


How to Successfully Ruin Your Life

by humanveil



Series: A Wonderfully Ruined Life [1]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Background Raven/Azazel, Bad Writing, Charles Getting Uncomfortable, Erik has Issues, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Translation Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-05 14:41:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 59,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1822126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanveil/pseuds/humanveil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seventeen-year-old Charles Xavier accepts a job at his local café, expecting nothing more than a fun, new pastime. What he gets is a mysterious customer and something like a schoolboy crush.</p><p>or, the one where Charles has a shitty family and falls for the guy everyone thinks is a creep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> *Edit - 20/09/2017.
> 
> This was my first cherik fic, and my first written work after a long break. The writing isn't what I would call great, though I'm going to keep it up, and after some deliberation, unedited. It's a nice reminder of how much I've improved. 
> 
> If you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it! I'm endlessly thankful for all the kudos and positive feedback this got. It gave me the motivation to keep writing and improve, so thank you!.
> 
> **x**
> 
> Translated to [tiếng Việt](https://waytohomecherik.wordpress.com/fic-dichcherik-how-to-successfully-ruin-your-life/) by Tâm Khiết

If you ask Charles why he had agreed to work at the Café, he wouldn’t be able to tell you. It wasn’t like he needed the money. He spent enough time there, knew the other employees well enough and when Alex had called out, asking if he had wanted to take the new job on offer, Charles had nodded.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

In a way it was. It gave him something to do, allowed him to spend even more time away from his house and gave him the opportunity to socialise with people other than Raven.

And then _he_ had walked in.

And then _he_ had smiled at Charles,  wide and with too many teeth, and, if Charles was being honest, he had been smitten from that moment forward.

\---

The first week Charles spent working at the Café had gone pretty well. There were times, near the end of a shift, where the other employees could get annoying; when all Charles wanted was to curl up in bed with a hot tea and a book. Other than that, it was fine.

It had been weird at first, to be an employee and not a customer. He was used to hiding in the dark corner at the back, not standing behind the counter serving people and smiling.  He'd adjusted quickly enough, though, and sooner or later started to enjoy it. The only overly weird thing that had happened was on his first day, when Emma got all the staff together for a meeting.

The meeting had been normal enough. He had been formally introduced to his other employees, most of which he had already known. There was Emma, who was the manager (or head bitch, as Alex called her); Alex himself spent most of his time serving people, as he couldn’t really work the machines that well. Then there was Alex’s older brother, Scott, who spent most of his time in the kitchen away from Alex, because _really,_ them being near each other wasn’t such a good idea. Then there was Moira, who spent most of her time in the back with Scott, and who, quite frankly, scared Charles a little. Lastly, there was Sean, who spent his time either cleaning up or making the orders, apparently too shy to talk to the actual customers. Charles mostly liked the people he worked with, even when they were being annoying. The size of the group allowed them to know each other well, and the Café wasn’t very big so they managed to get by with just the six of them.

Secretly, Charles thought the reason they had asked him if he wanted the job was because he had known them, and they had known Charles. Alex had told him that if he hadn’t accepted the job, then they would have spent weeks trying to find a person that would fit in.

After the formal introduction, they had started to go over the Café’s rules. It started off pretty normal, if informal, the kind of rules you would expect from a café. They had gotten weirder as the list went on. _Make sure to smile at all customers_ and _always be professional, even if the customer is an asshole (not Lehnsherr),_ had gone to _make sure to always be fully clothed (Scott) and do NOT fight in front of the customers (Scott and Alex)._ Then there was a bunch of rules regarding the ‘Lehnsherr’ that had been mentioned before. There was _do not spend more time with Lehnsherr than completely necessary, do NOT get caught alone with Lehnsherr, do NOT piss Lehnsherr off (remember what happened last time), if you do get caught alone with Lehnsherr, scream for help._ The list had gone on, and Charles had been really confused. He didn’t know who Lehnsherr was, and from what the list of rules implied about him, Charles didn’t want to know who he was.

After that they had gone back to work. Charles and Alex had worked the counter, the lack of customers giving them a perfect opportunity to talk. Charles had only been able to bite his tongue for so long. 

“Alex,” he'd called out to the other boy, “who’s the Lehnsherr guy everyone seems to be so freaked out about?”

“Dude, you don’t _know_?”

Charles shook his head as Sean came closer to join in the conversation.

“How do you not know?”

“What doesn’t Charles know?” Sean cut in, “I though Charles knew everything.”  He threw the cloth he had been using the wipe the bench over his shoulder, and smirked at Charles when he began to blush a bit.

“Charles doesn’t know about Lehnsherr.”

“Well, I would if you would tell me.”

“Oh, man, you don’t want to know.” Alex replied, “The guy’s a nutter.”

“The say he killed someone.” Sean cut in, looking at Charles with excitement. “They say he killed a lot of people, actually.”

“They say screams can be heard from his apartment sometimes.”

“And that on Halloween he tricks people to go into his house and then he kills him.”

“They used to say he was a spy, too, for the government or something.” Sean said, “And that he was like, some kind of assassin.”

Charles shook his head. Sean’s excitement on the topic was slightly worrying, but surely one man couldn’t have done all of that. “Who’s ‘they’?”

“Just people from around here,” Alex said.         

“You do realise most of it would just be rumours then, right?”

Sean shook his head, “Just wait until you meet the guy, Charles. He practically screams serial killer.”

Alex nodded and Charles shook his head again, “I look forward to it, then.”

\---

It wasn’t until the beginning of his second week that Charles had met the mysterious Lehnsherr.

It was a Monday afternoon, he'd been tired from school and no one had come into the Café for exactly twenty three minutes and sixteen seconds. The last customers had left two minutes and fifty three seconds ago, and since then the other staff members that were working had gone out the back, or were near the back of the shop, leaving Charles alone at the counter.

Exactly three minutes and forty seven seconds after the last customer left, _he_ walked in. The sound of the door opening had startled Charles slightly and when he looked up, there _he_ was.

 _He_ was staring at Charles with a smirk, watching Charles as Charles watched him. _He_ was six foot tall, lean, muscular and, Charles thought, practically a fucking sex god. His hair looked soft and gave Charles the urge to run his fingers through it, and the outline of the body that could be seen under the black turtle neck the man had on was, for lack of words, incredibly _sexy._ He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties, and gave off an aura of dominance and power Charles had never seen in anyone.

Mouth slightly agape, Charles had never been so attracted to someone in his entire life.

And then, thirty seconds after that, he was overcome by embarrassment. His cheeks going a humiliating shade of red as he realised the unnamed man had noticed his staring, grinning at him like a shark would their prey.

Clearing his throat, Charles straightened up and looked the man in the eye, smiling. “How can I help you today, sir?”

“You’re new here.” The man’s voice was deep and accented. Charles liked it.

“I-uh,” Charles stammered, “I’m what?”

“You’re new here,” the man repeated, still smiling.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I am.”

"What's your name?"

 

“Uh,” Charles paused. “Charles.” he cleared his throat and offered his hand, “Charles Xavier, and you?”

The man smirked and lent over the counter slightly, taking the hand, “Around here, I believe, I’m known as Lehnsherr.”

Charles breathed in quickly, his eyes widening. _This_ man, this _beautiful_ man, was the guy everyone…

_Oh god._

“Are you sure?” Once the words had left his lips, he'd pulled his hand back and clamped it over his mouth, blushing again.

Lehnsherr never stopped smirking, merely pulled his hand back and chuckled slightly. “So, they’ve told you about me then? Pity.”

Charles shook his head, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“Tea, please. Black and large. To-go.” Lehnsherr cut him off, straightening his stance.

Charles got him his order, a slightly awkward silence filling the room, and Charles’ face burnt. When he gave Lehnsherr his order, his mouth decided to betray his brain. “I'm terribly sorry. It's just, from what I’ve heard, I didn’t expect you to be so…”

“Attractive?” Lehnsherr joked, smirking at the boy once again.

“Yes, I, uh, no, I mean you _are_ attractive, very much so, I, uh,” Charles sighed, blushing red, “I’m sorry, I meant-“

Lehnsherr was chuckling, “I’ll see you later, Charles,” and then, with a wink in the boy’s direction, he left.

The door to the kitchen opened and Charles turned to see Emma looking at Lehnsherr’s retreating back. She looked back at Charles and smiled slightly. “So you met the big, bad wolf, huh?” Charles nodded and Emma smirked as she took in the blush, “Oh, sugar.”

\---

After that, it almost seemed as if Lehnsherr would come in each time Charles was working. And, although he’d deny it if anyone asked, Charles started to look forward to it. Lehnsherr wasn’t as creepy as Alex and Sean had made him seem. Charles could see where most of the rumours came from, but really, he was positive the man had never killed anyone.

Charles remembered Alex telling him that Lehnsherr had apparently liked children. It seemed, however, that it was just younger men he liked, not children, because Charles wasn’t a child and at the moment, it seemed like Lehnsherr liked Charles.

And although it made him slightly uncomfortable at times, Charles would be lying if he said he wouldn’t agree to half the things Lehnsherr probably wanted to do.

It was wrong, Charles knew. Lehnsherr looked as if he were at least double Charles’ age, and really; the rumours about him should have been enough to put him off. Rumours like that don’t just come out of nowhere. Even though Charles knew he shouldn’t be, he still found himself attracted to the mystery that was the other man. There was something about hm that intrigued Charles; he wanted to find out everything about the man, to know why people were so scared of him.

Lehnsherr was a mystery that Charles wanted to discover. The first step was finding out his full name.

\---

The next time Lehnsherr came in, it was a Saturday. Alex was working the counter, and Charles had been making the orders.

Alex saw him enter and groaned, turning to Charles, “Xavier, swap with me.”

Charles laughed at him, “He isn’t that scary.”

“He is.”

Charles rolled his eyes but still moved to the counter, “Whatever you say.” He turned to face his customer and found Lehnsherr leaning over the table to look at what they had. “Shit,” Charles muttered, slightly startled.

Lehnsherr grinned that shark grin at him, “Hello, Charles.”

“Good morning, Mr Lehnsherr.” Charles smiled back at him, “What can I do for you today?”

Lehnsherr gave him his order and was gone within the next two minutes, giving Charles one last smile and Alex one last smirk.

\---

It was Sunday and Charles was tired, and kinda, _really_  did not feel like working, but he hadn’t felt like staying at home, either.

Lehnsherr came in again, and this time got coffee and a muffin, taking them to sit in the back corner of the Café. Charles watched as he opened a book and started to read. The sun was coming through the window at an angle that made Lehnsherr glow, his hair looking golden and lush.

Charles smiled and turned back to the counter as he heard another customer approaching. There was a rush of customers for about forty minutes that kept Charles busy for a while. Lehnsherr hadn’t left yet, but he had come to get a refill on his drink not long ago, and was now tucked up in his corner again, apparently absorbed in his book. Once the customers died down, Emma yelled out that it was about time he took a break, so Charles made himself some tea and, hesitantly, went to the corner where Lehnsherr sat.

Lehnsherr looked up as he approached and closed the book, grinning at Charles. Charles pushed away the thought of one of the rules; _do not spend more time with Lehnsherr than completely necessary._ Lehnsherr wouldn’t hurt him. Even though the corner was slightly hidden, people would still be able to see or hear if Lehnsherr tried anything.       

Which he wouldn’t, Charles reminded himself. The man wasn’t a murderer.

Charles took a deep breath and smiled slightly, “Mind if I join you? There isn’t much room anywhere else.”

“Go ahead.”

Charles flashed the older man a bright smile and sat down across from him, “Thank you.”

Lehnsherr waved his hand and lent back in his chair. “So,” he started, “how do you like working here so far?”

Charles was slightly shocked that Lehnsherr was started a conversation, but smiled nonetheless. “It’s good,” he replied, “Gives me something to do other than school and homework.”

Lehnsherr raised an eyebrow, “You’re still at school them?”

Charles cursed himself a little bit as he felt the blush creep its way across his face, “I, um, yeah. I’m in my final ear though.”

Lehnsherr nodded, “Do you do well?”

Charles nodded; he couldn’t deny that he was the top student in all of his classes. He was proud of himself for it, even if it pissed the other kids off to no end. He just didn’t like saying it, he always felt like he came off as cocky.

“Cocky isn’t always a bad thing.”

Charles blushed, he hadn’t realised he had said it out loud.

Lehnsherr chuckled again and murmured, “You’re very pretty when you blush, Charles. Did you know that?”

That comment had only resulted in making Charles stammer and blush an even darker shade of red, the blush spreading all over his face and neck.

Charles was kind of relieved when after Emma called for him not long after.

Lehnsherr was left wondering if the blush went below his collar, too.

\---

On their seventh meeting, Charles found out Lehnsherr’s first name was Erik.

It had been a casual statement, a correction when Charles had called him _Mr Lehnsherr_.

"It's Erik."

Charles had smiled, cocked his head to the side and said the name, letting it roll over his tongue. “It suits you,” Charles had finally said, “Have a nice day, Erik.”

He had spent the rest of the day saying the name over and over in his head, loving the way it felt on his tongue.


	2. Blush

Despite its rather boring and unoriginal name, the Café was rather pleasant. It wasn’t very big, but it wasn’t very small, either. There were lots of oddly placed seating areas, with the tables and counters being a nice light brown wood. There were benches with red cushioned bottoms, stools for the customers to sit on and power points on the walls in case anyone needed to charge a device. Most of the light was natural, coming from the wide windows that covered most of the walls.  The bits of wall that weren’t taken up by windows were covered in posters or art. The Café was always warm, had a distinct smell of coffee beans and freshly baked goods and had an atmosphere that was cosy and comfortable.

It offered the perfect sanctuary, something that and drawn Charles to it in the first place.

\---

The other members of the staff were staring to worry about Charles.

First, he seemed to be at the Café too much. He was always working or sitting in a corner doing his school work.

Secondly, there were dark bags forming under Charles’ eyes and he constantly looked tired. Alex guessed it was because he was working too much and Sean said it was because “he probably has nightmares about Lehnsherr, Charles is usually the one to serve him.” Emma had shook her head at them and made them get back to work. Overworked seemed like it might be it, she had never seen the boy really relax. But it was a different kind of tired, like he was sad.

Lastly, Charles seemed to actually _like_ serving Lehnsherr. This was the biggest worry to Alex and Sean, they couldn’t comprehend it. Did Charles really not see the guy was a nutter?

\---

“Charrrrles,” Sean dragged the word out, coming to stand next to him.

Charles laughed and turned his head to look at him, “Yes, Sean?”

“Have you heard the new rumours?”

“Oh god,” Charles sighed, “No, I haven’t. Please enlighten me.”

“They’re saying Lehnsherr steals all the neighbour’s pets,” Sean whispered excitedly, “They say he eats them.”

Charles shook his head and looked at his friend again, “Exactly how reliable are your sources of information?”

“Charles!” Sean exclaimed, “They are very reliable. How could you say such a thing?” Sean shook his head, “He’s brainwashing you, Charles. Lehnsherr. Every time he talks to you, he’s brainwashing you to think he’s a nice guy. You have to be careful, Charles. God known what could happen.”

“I highly doubt Erik is brainwashing me, Sean. Most of our conversations revolve around what kind of tea or coffee he wants.”

“But there it is!” Sean practically yelled, making Charles flinch back slightly, “Erik! You’re calling him Erik! His name isn’t Erik, Charles. It’s Lehnsherr.” He shook his head again, “It might already be too late for you, Charles.”

Charles rolled his eyes, he didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh, “Fine then. _Lehnsherr_ isn’t brainwashing me, Sean. He’s just being nice.”

“Nice?” Sean threw his hands up in the air, “Nice? Lehnsherr isn’t nice, Charles. What am I going to do with you, Charles, oh my…” Sean started muttering and went off to find Alex, leaving Charles slightly confused. Honestly, he didn’t see the why everyone was so scared of Erik.

He had been perfectly nice to Charles, if sometimes a bit eerie.

\---

Every Sunday Erik would come in and sit in the back corner, bringing along a book or laptop to occupy himself with.

Every Sunday, Charles always seemed to be the one on cleaning duties. He would have to walk around and talk to customers, cleaning up after them once they left. Charles didn’t mind, especially when the Café wasn’t so busy and Erik would call him over. Today was one of those days.

“Hello, Erik.”

“Charles,” he moved closer to the window and tapped his hand on the bench next to him. “Sit.” Charles smiled nervously and sat down on the edge of the bench, leaving more than enough room for someone to sit in between them. “Closer, Charles.”

Charles blushed slightly and moved closer to Erik, their legs almost touching. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Erik grinned, “That’s better. I can only imagine what you’ve heard about me, but I don’t bite,” he leant closer to Charles, his arm resting on the top of the bench and his breath tickling Charles’ ear. “Unless, you want me to, Charles?”

Charles was pretty sure he went tomato red, “I, um,” he spluttered.

Erik chuckled and leant back, giving Charles some space. He watched as the boy tried to form a reply and as the blush subsided, “You blush very easily, Charles.” he stated pleased with himself when the boy started to go red again. “Don’t be embarrassed about it, Charles. I’ve already told you it’s rather pretty.”

The blush deepened and Charles groaned and cursed himself for being so fair. “Glad my embarrassment pleases you, my friend.” Charles tensed a bit, he hadn’t really meant to call Erik that and he was a bit weary for how he would react. After all, they weren’t exactly friends.

But Erik just flashed him that shark-like grin again, “It's not your embarrassment that pleases me, darling.” Despite it being said so casually, the term made Charles’ breath hitch.

He was about to reply when he saw Emma approaching. She took in his blush and rolled her eyes. “You’re going to make the kid’s skin permanently pink, Lehnsherr.” She turned to Charles, “I need you work the counter, Alex went out back and got into a fight with Scott. He’s now incapable of working at the moment.”

Charles groaned and shook his head, “I feel sorry for their parents.”

Emma smiled, “Me, too, sugar. Now, wrap it up and get back to work.” She walked off leaving them alone.

Charles turned back to look at Lehnsherr, “I’ll see you later, Erik.” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and stood up to leave.

“Goodbye, darling.”

\---

Charles wanted to talk to someone about Erik.

The only person he could really talk to about it was Raven, but Raven was away at collage and probably didn’t want to hear about it. Besides, Charles could pretty much already hear what she was going to say. _He’s, like, 30, Charles. And he’s apparently a creep. Go find a boy your own age, it’ll be much better for you._

So, no. Raven wouldn’t be the best to talk to about it. But he didn’t really have anyone else. The other members of his family were out of the question and the only people he hung out with were the staff at the Café and Erik himself. It wasn’t like he could go and talk to any of them.

Charles sighed, he really shouldn’t be thinking about it. He had some pretty important exams coming up that he had to focus on.

\---

He wasn’t working the next Sunday. Emma gave him the day off so he could spend it studying for his exams.

Still though, he found himself in his car driving towards the Café. His step brother would be home all day and he really didn’t want to deal with _that_.

Bleary eyed and tired from not enough sleep, he found himself stumbling into someone as he was about to enter the Café. He looked up to apologised when he noticed the person was Erik. “Erik, oh, I,” Charles didn’t understand why he was always seemed to stutter around Erik, he was usually good with words. Words were, like, his thing. He shook his head, “I’m sorry, I didn’t see wher-“

“It’s alright, darling.” Charles smiled and Erik pushed the door open, allowing Charles to walk in first. He looked Charles up and down and noticed that he wasn’t wearing the work uniform. “Not working today?”

“Hm?” Charles turned his head backwards to look at him, “Oh, no. Emma gave me the day off. She says I work too much.”

“So you decide to come here on your day off?”

“Better than being at home.” Charles said as he got to the small line at the counter. “Mind if I join you again today?”

“Not at all,” he paused and looked at cakes and pastries on display.

“Charles!” Alex called when they reached the counter, “Couldn’t stand not being here for at least one day?”

Charles smiled slightly and rolled his eyes, “Shut it, can I hav-“

“Tea, Earl Grey, for him. Black, for me. Both large.” Erik paused, “And a piece of the caramel cake.”

Alex’s eyes widened slightly and nodded, accepting the money Erik offered him.

\---

“Erik.” Charles started when they sat down, side by side, in what was, Charles thought, their corner.

“Yes, Charles?”

“I could have bought my own drink.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “Yes, I _know_ you could have, but I wanted to.”

“What if I didn’t want tea?”

“You always want tea.”

“But what if I wanted, say,” Charles paused, “Green tea?”

“Just drink the tea, Charles. I know that’s what you wanted.”

Charles stuck his tongue out at Erik and took a sip of his drink, coughing slightly when it burnt his throat.

“Mature, darling. Very mature,” the older man laughed and placed the cake in between them. “What did you plan on doing today?”

Charles pointed to the nearly overflowing bag he had, “Supposed to be studying. There are practice question I need to do. I don’t want to do them, though.”

“What if,” Erik paused, “You got a prize for every question you get right?”

Charles smiled, “What would the prize be?”

“Hmm,” Erik licked his lips, “Each time you do a question, I’ll check the answer and for each question you get right you can have some cake.” He pointed at the delicious looking piece of cake on the table in front of them. He looked to Charles, “Deal?”

“You’re on, my friend.”

They spent the next hour or so together, laughing going over questions. Erik had to buy two more slices of cake; he hadn’t expected Charles to get pretty much every question right.

Charles hadn’t expected that Erik would feed him the cake.

\---

Three weeks after Charles found our Erik’s name, he got Erik’s phone number.

It came as a surprise, he was cleaning the table Erik had previously occupied and when he picked up the napkin he saw his name and some digits scrawled on it. Charles had only just made out the messy _text me_ left under the number.

He didn’t stop smiling until he got home and had to face his step-father.

\---

Later that night, when Charles was in bed, he got out his phone and the napkin from before. He had meant to text Erik earlier but he had just been really busy. And, if he was honest with himself, he was a bit nervous. He out the number in his contacts and, taking a deep breath, he started to type. The message was deleted and rewritten four times before he settles on _What if someone else had picked up the napkin, my friend?_

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply, smiling at it came in.

**I was starting to think you hadn’t seen the number, darling.**

Charles was glad that Erik wasn’t someone that abbreviated everything when they were texting. it got a bit annoying.

_How could I miss such a thing?_

**Well, you did take your time.**

Impatient, Charles thought. _Terribly sorry, my friend. There were things to do._

**Things more important than me?!**

_I’m afraid so, Erik. It may come as a shock to you but I do have a life other than the Café._

_Partially._

**What are you doing now, darling?**

_Nothing other than talking to you._

**So I have your full attention?**

Charles smiled, _What about you? What are you doing?_

**Oh, you know. Just cooking up the neighbour’s cat.**

Charles paused for a moment, he didn’t know if he should laugh or not. _I really hope you’re kidding._

**I am.**

And then, **I really don’t know where these rumours come from.**

_Neither do I._

_Does it bother you?_

**It used to, a bit. I’m used to it now. It works to my advantage sometimes. People tend to leave me alone because they think I might kill them if they annoy me.**

_So you prefer being alone, then?_

**Although, I don’t mind your company, darling.**

_Too bad if you didn’t. I’m not scared of you so you would be stuck with me, anyway._

**Lucky me.**

_Lucky you._

\---

One month after finding out Lehnsherr’s first name, Charles was surprised to see how much he knew about the man.

He knew Erik’s coffee and tea orders (obviously), he knew that Erick was a historical author (he had gone and bought all of his work and read it within a week, pleasantly surprised by the standard of it), he knew he was Jewish, that he grew up in Germany (and _oh_ , the way Charles’ body reacted when he heard him speaking in German for the first time), that he was gay, which Charles thought was rather important, and that he was single (not that Charles cared).

The list went on, of course, but those things were the things that stuck. With each new fact Charles found out about Erik, he fell for the man a little harder.

And as he fell harder, the more determined he was to lie to himself about it.

\---

Charles was cleaning the tables at the back; it was just Alex, Moira, Emma and him working today and he had wanted a break from working behind the counter. Moira was in the kitchen, Emma was doing whatever Emma did and Alex was standing behind the counter waiting for a customer. It was a slow day once again, but there were a few casuals sitting around the place, college students sitting with their laptops and an ungodly amount of coffee cups surrounding them.   

It was needless to say Charles was scared shitless when he felt someone place a hand on the small of his back. He jumped and turned around, his chest heaving and his hands raised as if to protect himself.

He was surprised to see Erik standing there with his hands up, as if surrendering.

“Whoa, sorry,” he said, voice a gentler tone than Charles had ever heard. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Charles visibly relaxed and smiled as Erik came closer. “Can I help you, Erik?”

Erik was about to reply when he saw a slight bruise on the corner of Charles’ jaw. He reached his hand up, grabbing Charles’ face, “What happened?”

There was a hitch in Charles’ breathing and he shut his eyes. “Nothing,” he said, “it’s nothing.”

Erik held on, rubbing his thumb gently over the bruise, “This isn’t nothing, Charles.”

Charles pulled his head out of Erik’s grip and took a step back. “Leave it, Erik. Please.”

“But-“

“But nothing.” Alex yelled out from the counter for Charles, there were more customers coming in and he needed more help. “I’ll see you later, Erik.”

Erik sighed and watched him leave.

\---

**I’m sorry if I pushed you before, darling. I’m just worried.**

Charles read the text and sighed. He was _so_ screwed.


	3. We Need To Talk About Charles

“We need to talk about Charles.”

Sean nodded, “He’s spending too much time with Lehnsherr.”

It was just Sean, Alex and Emma working out front that day, Charles had the day off once again.

Alex hummed in agreement. “Did you see them yesterday?” Sean shook his head and Alex sighed, “It was the start of rush hour and Charles was cleaning the tables at the back. Lehnsherr came in and went straight to Charles and,” he paused, clearing his throat and lowering his voice, “He went up behind Charles and put his hand on his back-“

“HE WHAT?” Sean yelled, catching the attention of the other customers, “Sorry,” he called out.

Alex rolled his eyes, “ _Thank you_ , for that.”

“We need to talk to Charles. He just doesn’t see it, does he? Lehnsherr is a creep. He’s brainwashing him, I tell you! And he’s like, 40.” Sean shook his head again, “Charles doesn’t need a forty year old! Charles doesn’t need anyone! It needs to stop right now, Alex. Charles doesn’t have my blessing!”

“I don’t think Charles really needs your blessing for anything, Sean.”

“Yes, he does. Especially when it comes to Lehnsherr.”

Alex sighed as a group of customers walked in.

\---

**Good morning, darling. I hope you have a wonderful day.**

Charles smiled at his phone; he’d never received a good morning text before.

\---

“There’s going to be a staff meeting tomorrow. Charles will be here and we need to discuss the Lehnsherr situation.”

\---

“We need to talk about Charles.”

A sigh, “Emma.”

Emma pushed Erik out of the way, walking into the apartment; she had gone over to Erik’s apartment right after she had closed the Café for the day. The staff didn’t know, but Emma had actually known Erik for a long time. They had met in collage and had kept a weird relationship since. It wasn’t that they didn’t like each other; it was just that that they couldn’t stand to be around each other for too long. Their personalities tended to clash.

Erik rolled his eyes at the woman, “Please, make yourself at home.”

Emma did, walking over to where he kept his liquor and pouring herself a glass. “What do you want with Charles, Erik? He’s just a boy. A pretty, intelligent one that’s beyond his years, but he’s a boy. He’s in highschool, for god’s sake.” She took a long sip from the glass. “If you’re playing with him, Erik, so god hel-“

“I’m not.”

“Then what?” she turned to look at him, “It’s barely been two months and the kid is pretty much _in love with you._ I don’t know what you’ve done, but he really fucking likes you, Erik.”

Erik groaned, rolling his eyes. “I haven’t done anything to him! All we do is talk. Talk! There is _nothing_ harmful in talking to me, is there? I’m not some type of fucking crack head serial killer everyone seems to think I am.”

“Then ho-“ Emma tried to cut in but Erik wouldn’t let her talk.

“Has it ever occurred to you that Charles might like me without me doing anything to him? Has it ever occurred to you that _I_ might like Charles? ”

“Please, I know you, Erik. You don’t like people. You fuck them and then you leave them.”

“If I only wanted to fuck Charles, explain why I’m still talking to him. If that’s all I wanted, I can assure you, I would have got it by now.” Erik clenched his teeth, “You know it’s true, Emma.”

“He’s seventeen, Erik.”

“So?”

“He’s still a fucking kid!”

“He’s young, I’m not denying that, but he is not a _kid_.”

“I swear to god, Erik,” Emma started, moving closer to Erik, “If you hurt that boy, I will rip your head off.”

Erik sighed and sat down. “I have no intentions to hurt him, okay? That’s the last thing I want.”

\---

_I miss you._

Charles had been staring at the text for the last ten minutes, his finger hovering over the send button.

It was true, he did miss Erik. A lot, actually. He felt quite ridiculous about it, too, considering they’d spoken that morning, the briefness of the conversation notwithstanding.

He sighed to his empty room, shifting to sit up in his bed. Erik hadn’t texted him that much since the last time they had seen each other, Charles understood that Erik might think he was annoyed at him for what had happened. It was nothing really; it had just surprised Charles when the man had grabbed his face. No one had ever really noticed the bruises he always seemed to have.

It was pathetic, really. He was a seventeen year old boy sitting in bed on a Wednesday night, staring at his phone and contemplating weather or not to send a message to a thirty something year old man he met at a café and who, apparently, had a rather large range of issues and who was considered to be a variety of things ranging from a serial killer to that guy that eats the neighbours pets. Charles didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.

It was ridiculous, he was just not going to send anything to Erik and ignore everything all together. Yes, _that_ seemed like a reasonably good idea to Charles. The little voice in his head saying that he knew that wasn’t true and _come on you miss him, Charles, send the message_ went ignored.

Expect, as he pressed down on the screen to bring the brightness back up, he accidently pressed the send button.

Charles’ eyes widened and, on impulse, he threw his phone to the other side of the room, refusing to believe he had just sent it.

The word fuck ran through his head like a mantra.

\---

It had been ten minutes.

Not that Charles was counting, of course.

But in those ten minutes Charles had gone to get his phone, frowning when he saw the small crack left in the bottom right corner of the screen and had, once again, sat staring at his phone.

It had now been eleven minutes and Erik still hadn’t replied.

Charles was starting to rethink every life decision he had ever made.

\---

Sixteen minutes, the longest sixteen minutes of his entire life, went by before Charles got a reply.

It was embarrassing how quickly he unlocked his phone when it lit up with Erik’s name.

**Sorry, was taking a shower.**

Charles tried not to think of the older man in the shower, he really did. He should be worrying about Erik not acknowledging what he had actually sent. 

**I miss you too, my darling.**

Ah. Charles most certainly did _not_ blush at the term of endearment.

_Yours?_

**Mmhm, mine.**

_Shouldn’t you ask first?_

**I already know the answer.**

_Rather confident in your abilities, aren’t you?_

**Within good reason.**

_You’re ridiculous._

**And you’re adorable.**

Mmhm, sure.

**You doubt me?**

_Within good reason._

**:(**

**Whoever said you aren’t adorable has obviously never seen you blush.**

**You’re blushing right now, aren’t you?**

_Shut up._

**I’m right, aren’t I?**

_No_

**Yes**

_Nope_

**Uh huh**

_:(_

**:)**

_I hate you._

**I beg to differ.**

_No, I really hate you._

**They say there’s a thin line between love and hate.**

_Fine, I dislike you at an extreme level._

**:(**

**Please like me again, Charles.**

_You’re gonna have to try harder than that._

**I’ll buy you more cake.**

_…_

_Okay._

**I can die happy.**

_:)_

**It’s late, you should sleep.**

_I’d rather talk to you._

**Get some sleep, my darling.**

_Goodnight, Erik._

\---

There was something off about this staff meeting, Charles thought.

Not that staff meetings were ever very normal, but this one was different. The atmosphere was almost tense. It was like the other staff members, Alex, Sean and Emma more than anyone else, were dancing around something. And from the side glances everyone kept shooting his way, Charles had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with him.

Charles was a patient person, but this was getting annoying rather quickly. “Look, I know there’s something you want to say, so if we could please address the elephant in the room and speed things up a bit?”

Alex pursed his lips and looked away, Sean turned to Alex, Emma sighed, Moira tried to look confused and Scott just looked bored.

Charles looked around at everyone again, the confusion evident on his face, “What?”

No one replied,

“You don’t,” he paused, “You aren’t firing me, are you?”

“NO!” Sean yelled and Charles jumped slightly, “Look, what we want to say is..”

“Charles,” Alex started, “We, well…”

“What Alex is trying to say is that, uh,” Sean tried helping, “We wanted to…”

“We’ve noticed that you, uh,” that was Alex again.

Charles was starting to get annoyed, “I’ve what?” Sean mumbled something that Charles didn’t understand. “What?”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Thank you, Sean and Alex for making this harder than it needs to be,” she looked at the two, who in return looked down, “What these two are so eloquently trying to say is everyone here has noticed that you and Lehnsherr are getting a bit cosy with each other and _some_ of us are having some issues with it.”

Charles raised an eyebrow, “You cannot be serious.”

“He’s bad news, Charles,” that was Alex, “We just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Nothing bad has happened to me!”

“Well, no,” Sean stated, “but something could, and we want to prevent that.”

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose, “I don’t understand why you’re all so worried.”

“Look, Charles,” Moira piped up, “I don’t mean to be rude, but even you have to admit that Lehnsherr is a bit, well,” she paused, “Creepy.”

“No, actually,” Charles replied, standing up, “ _Erik_ has never been anything but nice to me. Not once has he given off a vibe that screams serial killer, not once has he done anything that had put me in some type of danger. I can’t comprehend how all of these _ridiculous_ rumours have come about; I don’t see what he has done that has made all of you think he’s some type of creepy criminal!.”

“Think about it, Charles,” Alex said, “Rumours like that don’t just pop up from anywhere!”

“We don’t want you to be in danger.”

“I’m _not_ in danger!” Charles shook his head again, his voice rising, “Besides, have you not noticed that all Erik and I do is _talk._ Talking is not putting me in danger. Talking isn’t going to kill me. Erik and I talking is no reason to be making such a fuss. You’re it out as if I’ve agreed to run away and marry him.” Charles sat back down, leaning his arms on his knees and holding his hand in his face.

“Think about the age gap, Charles,” that was Moira again, “It’s not normal for someone in their forties to hang around with a seventeen year old boy.”

Charles rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by Emma’s slight snort.  He looked over to her and she smiled at him, “Lehnsherr isn’t in his forties, sugar.”

“He looks it,” Moira defended herself.

Emma rolled her eyes, “Erik’s twenty nine, thirty in January. I know he looks older than what he is but he doesn’t look forty.”

“How do you know?” Sean asked.

“What?”

“How do you know that about Lehnsherr?”

“Does it really matter?”

“Yes,” Alex said, facing towards Emma.

“Fine,” Emma sighed and picked off the non-existent fluff from the stark white jacket she had on, “I knew him when we were at collage. You could say we were friends,” she made an odd face, “After he graduated though, I barely spoke to him. Not until he walked into an old café I used to work in.”

“WHAT?”

“Oh my god.”

“Traitor!”

“For fuck sakes,” that came from Scott. All the other members of the staff turned to look at him, surprised. It was the first thing he had said throughout the entire meeting. “This is ridiculous; I don’t understand why you’re all making such a big deal out of it.”

“Because-“

“Because nothing. The three of you make such a big fucking deal over everything. It doesn’t matter if Emma knew Lehnsherr way back when.” Scott paused, looking over to Charles, “Nor does it matter if Charles is off fucking him.”

Charles cheeks burned, “ _I’m not sleeping with Erik._ ”

Sean was shaking his head and murmuring under his breath.

Scott rolled his eyes, “Fine, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to be off shaking up with the guy.”

“I do not.”

“Sure, sugar,” Emma said, smirking, “But I bet he wouldn’t mind bending you ove-“

“Okay! That’s enough.” Charles all but yelled, his cheeks burning red, “I think I’m going to go now, thank you, I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Charles could hear Emma’s laugh as he turned and left, leaving his employees behind.

\---

Charles was sure he had broken many driving laws when he was driving home, his annoyance from the meeting still affecting him. He ignored his family when he got home and went straight to his father’s old study, sitting in the overly stuffed couch his father had put there for his young self. He got out his phone and texted Erik, not wanting to speak to anyone else.

_:(_

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply. Smiling when he got it.

**What’s up, buttercup?**

_I hate staff meetings._

**Oh no. Do I need to hurt anyone?**

_You’re not really helping your image._

**No idea what you’re talking about, Charles. I’m a perfect little saint.**

_Hardly little._

**Are you calling me chubby?**

_You have been buying a lot of cake lately._

**Charles!**

_Erik!_

**:(**

**You’re mean.**

_Not really._

_You’re too sensitive._

**I am many things, Xavier, but sensitive is not one of them.**

_Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night._

**Are you still upset?**

_You’re helping, though._

**Where are you?**

_My father’s old study._

**Is anyone with you?**

_No, why?_

Charles’ reply was Erik’s name popping up on his phone screen. He smiled and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, my darling,” Charles smiled at Erik’s voice and leant back against the couch.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m attempting to cheer you up by offering you the privilege of my company.”

Charles laughed, “Talking to me on the phone isn’t really offering me your company.”

“Then you get the privilege of hearing my voice and having my full attention, how’s that?”

“Mmm,” Charles closed his eyes, some of the stress and tension from that day leaving his body as Erik’s voice washed over him. “It’s good.”

“Now, are you going to tell me what it is that happened at this staff meeting of yours?” Erik’s voice was soft and gentle; a tone Charles had only ever heard the older man use with him, “I don’t want you to be upset.”

“I’m not upset, not really,” he sighed, “Just annoyed.”

“What did they say?”

“Some of them really don’t like you.”

“Ah,” Erik paused, “Are you annoyed because they said bad things about _me_ or are you annoyed because they said things about _you_ and me?”

“None, both, I don’t know.” Charles let out a small groan, “I don’t understand why they’re so worried, it has nothing to do with them. They think you’re going to just turn around one day and kill me or something, Erik.”

“Well, considering what they think of me I can understand why they think that.”

“But they have no reason to think it. You’ve been nothing but nice to me.”

“Exactly. I’ve been nice to _you_ , Charles, I haven’t always been nice to them. You’re rather special.”

“That’s still not a reason to be acting like they are.”

“I suppose there isn’t much we can do to make them realise I’m not hurting you, and that I don’t plan to hurt you.” Erik sighed, “I don’t think their opinion of me is going to change very soon. Especially if they think I’m plotting your murder.”

Charles pouted, “It’s all rather stupid.”

“Charles?”

“What?”

“Are you pouting?”

“No.”

“I think you are.”

“I’m not!”

“It’s too bad I’m not there to see it. It'd be rather adorable, I think.”

“…”

Erik laughed, “And now you’re blushing.”

“Shuddup.”

“Cutie.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“It’s not meant to be, my darling.”

“Errrrrikkkkk.”

“Whaaaaaat?” Erik drawled, mirth still evident in his voice.

“I am disliking you on an extreme level again.”

“You have an odd way of flirting, Charles Xavier.”

Charles blushed again, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he tried to reply, “I’m not, we’re not, I am-“

“Charles?”

“What?”

“I’m joking.”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

Charles didn’t reply and there was a short pause between the two before Erik broke it. “I miss you. I haven’t seen you all week.”

“We’ve spoken almost every day.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’ve been blessed with the sight of you for nearly a week.”

“The sight of me isn’t really anything special.”

“I beg to differ, my darling.”

“Are you calling me attractive, Erik?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s a first.”

“What?” Erik sounded surprised, “No one’s ever said you’re good looking before?”

“Girls have, but a guy never has.”

“Well,” Erik paused, Charles could actually hear the smile in the man’s voice, “It’s true.”

“Well, duh,” Charles smiled, “What else would you expect?”

Erik laughed, “Very modest, darling.”

“Mmhm.”

“Have I succeeded in cheering you up?”

“A little.”

“Only a little?”

“A lot.”

“That’s better.”

Charles smiled again, “Thank you, Erik.”

“What else am I here for, my darling?”

\---

That night, when Charles crawled into bed, fresh off the phone with Erik and a smile firmly placed on his lips, he thought about his life. He thought about how, ever since his father died, he had never _really_ been happy. At least, not until now.

He thought in numbers, going through each year of his life, amazed at how much had changed without him really noticing.

He was four when Raven came into his life. He was eight when his father died and his mother started to drink. He was nine when his mother remarried, bringing Kurt and Cain into his life. He was ten when his step father hit him for the first time. He was eleven when his mother started to _really_ drink. He was twelve when he realised he was different from the other boys his age. He was thirteen when his step brother broke his arm. He was fourteen when he told Raven he was gay. He was fifteen when Raven left for collage. He was sixteen when he first kissed someone.

He was seventeen when he fell in love.


	4. Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely no idea where this chapter came from, it wasn’t planned at all. I finished this last night but didn’t post it as originally it was going to be posted as one big chapter, however, instead of finishing the chapter today I’ve sat in bed and watched Sherlock. The second half will hopefully be up soon and it will be filled with answers to some of the questions you guys have been asking and we'll learn more about Erik and his issues! 
> 
> I apologise if there are any horrible mistakes, I finished the last part at 3am and only briefly looked over it. Anyway, I hope you like it, I'm not too sure how I feel about it.

The drunken voice of his step-father echoed within Charles’ head as he ran out of his family’s large home. He didn’t care that it was nearly three in the morning, he didn’t care that it was dark, or that it was raining pretty heavily. He needed out, he needed to be as far away from his family as his body could take him.

Dressed in only a plain short sleeved black t-shirt, flannel pyjamas pants and the old running shoes he had hastily put on when his step-father had called for him ( _oh_ how he should have pretended to be asleep), Charles ran down the driveway of his home and out to the road. He ran as fast as he could, not caring what direction he went. The cold went unnoticed, as did the pain from being hit, the howling of the wind the only thing he could hear.

He didn’t know how long he ran for, but he ended up stopping as he reached the neighbourhood’s park. His chest heaving and his tongue tasting like blood, he collapsed on a bench, hoping no one else was around. He reached into his pockets to see if he had thought to grab his phone, thanking his lucky stars when his hand closed over the object. He pulled it out and bent his upper body over slightly to protect it from the rain.

Charles didn’t think about the time as he unlocked his phone, he didn’t think about his trembling body as he opened his contacts list and found Erik’s name, he didn’t think about how sobs were racking his body, ( that surprised Charles, he didn’t know he had started to cry) as he pressed call.

“Please, Erik,” he whispered as he heard the first ring, “Please be a-awake.”

Another ring.

“Please,” Charles sobbed, clutching the phone with both hands so he didn’t drop it.

Another ring.

“Erik, p-please.”

Another ring.

“P-please.” He began rocking back and forth.

Another ring.

“Erik,” he sobbed, “Please pi-“

“Charles?” the voice was quiet, croaky.

“-ck up the ph- phone.”

“Charles?” Erik sounded more alert this time; a rustle of sheets could be heard.

“Erik-k.” Charles sighed, relief washing over him as he heard the other man’s voice.

“Charles, what’s wrong?”

“I,” he stuttered, his teeth chattering from the cold, “I need,” Charles paused, he wasn’t getting enough air in, his breaths coming in quick, shaky gaps.

“Charles, where are you?” Erik sounded like he was moving around in a hurry.

“I, uh,” he clutched the phone tighter, “I’m in a p-park.”

“What park, baby?” Erik’s voice was gentle, the concern evident. Charles heard the sound of a door being slammed.

“The one ne-,” Charles choked on a sob, “The one n-near the c-café.”

Charles heard an engine start, “I’m going to come and get you, alright, darling?”

Charles continued to rock back and forth, his sobs subsiding a little, “Mmmhmm.”

“I’m going to put you on loud speaker. I want you to stay on the phone, okay?”

“O-“ Charles hiccupped, “Okay.”

“I won’t be long, baby, okay?”

Charles nodded, forgetting Erik couldn’t see him through the phone. “I’m s-so sorry, Erik.”

“Don’t be sorry, my darling,” Erik’s voice was still the gentle tone he only ever used with Charles, “I’m glad you called me. You can always call me if you need help, baby, it doesn’t matter what time it is, alright?”

“Okay,” Charles’ teeth where chattering, the cold was really starting to kick in.

“I’m nearly there, darling.”

“It’s s-so c-cold.”

Charles heard Erick swear softly before sighing, “I know, darling. I’m almost there.”

It was ten minutes before Erik arrived; ten agonising minutes where Charles continued to rock himself as Erik’s voice came through the phone trying to comfort him. Charles heard and saw the car skid to a stop on the road near him; he hung up the phone as he saw the lean figure step out of the car and start running towards him. His entire body was trembling when Erik knelt down in front of him, dressed in what Charles guessed where his pyjamas and his face a look of alarm.

“Holy shit, Charles,” Erik exclaimed, taking in the shivering boy with a tear and bruise stained face. He took in what the younger boy was wearing and stood up, grabbing Charles and embracing him tightly.

“E-erik,” Charles tucked his head into the crook of Erik’s neck, his teeth still chattering.

“Shh, darling,” he kissed the top of the boys dripping hair and drew back, grabbing Charles’ hands. “Come on, darling, you need to warm up.” Charles nodded and Erik tugged him along to the car, opening the door for Charles to get in.

Charles just stared at him, “I’ll get y-your car w-wet.”

“I don’t care, get in.”

Charles got in, breathing a sigh of relief when he noticed the heater was on. Erik ran to the other side and jumped back in the car, also drenched from the rain. He leant over the middle and searched for something in the back seat, pulling out a small blanket and giving it to Charles. Charles smiled slightly and wrapped himself in the blanket as much as he could. Running out in the middle of the night in limited clothing while it was raining was not one of the best ideas he’d ever had.

Erik started the car, “You’re going to be sick tomorrow.”

“Probably,” Charles murmured, burying his face into the blanket. It was soaking the water up more than it was keeping him warm, but still, it helped.

“You’re lucky it wasn’t snowing.”

Charles made a noise of agreement and attempted to pull the blanket even tighter around himself.

Erik sighed, “I’m not going to ask you what happened until tomorrow. Nor am I going to take you back to your house. Obviously there’s something there that you don’t want to be around.”

“Thank you,” Charles whispered, turning his face slightly to look at the other man.

“Right now I’m going to take you back to my apartment and get you warmed up, alright, darling?”

A nervous flutter broke in Charles’ stomach at the mention of going to Erik’s apartment, but he nodded nonetheless.

\---

“What if we wake your neighbours up?”

“Charles, all we have to do is walk through two doors. I live on the first floor, in fact, most of first floor is mine.”

“Yeah, bu-“

“Just walk, darling.”

Charles sighed and got out the car, letting the other man place his arm over his shoulders and pull him towards the apartment complex. He still had the blanket around him, his clothes and hair were still drenched and his body was still shaking slightly but the heater in the car had warmed him up a bit.

Erik quickly got them into the building and to his door, opening it and pushing Charles in. He grabbed Charles’ wrist and tugged the boy down the small hallway and into another one, not giving Charles a chance to look around properly. He brought Charles into the main bathroom of his apartment, leaning into the shower and turning on the hot water.

Erik turned to Charles and gently pulled the blanket off of him, “Charles, I want you to get in and warm up. It doesn’t matter how long you’re in there for, okay?”

Charles nodded, looking slightly awkward.

Erik smiled faintly and left, calling out as he went, “I’ll come back later with some clothes for you to change into, darling.”

\---

Charles knew he probably should not have been thinking about how he was naked in _Erik’s_ apartment. There were bigger, more important thing he should have been thinking about; like how he had just quite literally ran away from home. But, Charles _was_ a seventeen year old boy.

He let the hot water run over his body, sighing in relief when he finally started to warm up. He leant his forehead against the tiles of Erik’s bathroom and let the water fall over his back. It was nice, he felt calm. He felt _safe._

He jumped about three foot in the air and hastily tried to cover himself with his hands when he heard the bathroom door open and Erik walk in,

“Jesus, fuck, Erik!”

The other man chuckled, “Sorry, darling, I’m just here to drop off the clothes and take your other ones.”

“Don’t you knock?”

“I do. I’m just not accustomed to doing in in my own apartment. It’s not like I can see anything anyway, darling.”

“Still,” Charles mumbled.

“I can assure you, though, that I would ask before walking into the actual shower with you.”

Erik laughed and left the room, leaving Charles blushing and trying to form an intelligent response.

\---

Charles got out of the shower not long after that, he didn’t want to leave Erik alone for too long.

He stepped out of the shower and towelled himself dry, smiling at the neatly placed clothes Erik had given him. Another nervous flutter broke in Charles’ stomach as he realised the clothes had to belong to Erik. He quickly put on the black pyjama pants and grey sweatshirt, half laughing and half groaning when he realised the clothes were about three sizes too big for him. At least they were warm.

“Erik?” Charles called out when he left the bathroom.

“I’m in the kitchen,” was the loud response he got.

“Am I supposed to know where that is?”

“Yes,” Erik called, stepping out in front of Charles. He took one look at the younger man and burst out laughing. “Oh my god, Charles.” Erik had also changed into clothing, similar to what he was wearing before, just dry.

Charles glared at him, “It’s not funny.”

“It is,” Erik nodded and walked closer, still giggling, “You look incredibly adorable, my darling. My clothes have never looked better.”

Erik laughed again and Charles pouted, “It’s not my fault I’m tiny.”

“I never said it was a bad thing.” Charles continued to pout and Erik reached his hand up to touch the boy’s face, grinning when Charles blushed without moving away. He let his hand drop and turned away, walking back to the kitchen, “I’ve made tea. Do you want some?”

Charles hummed his agreement as he looked around the open studio-like apartment. He took in the vastness of the rooms, each one spacious and comfortable; for some reason he hadn’t expected Erik to live somewhere so large. The place wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t ridiculously neat like Charles’ house always seemed to be. _Lived-in_ a voice in his head supplied; it was true, there were things strewn all over the kitchen and living room to suggest someone lived there. A coat thrown against the back on his lounge, a pair of shoes left near the door. There were books left on counters, post-it notes and writing pads alongside them. Charles smiled as he took in the three large book shelves that took up half of the wall space; the shelves weren’t just filled with books, there were DVDs, a few photographs and odd ornaments. Charles thought he might have seen a cactus or two.

Charles turned back to Erik when he heard a cup being placed on the counter behind him. Smiling his thanks as he grabbed the tea and took a sip, “I like your apartment.”

“You’ve only seen three rooms. There’s another three for you to see, four if you count the laundry room. ”

Charles rolled his eyes, “Then I like those three rooms and look forward to seeing the other ones. How’s that?”

“Better,” Erik replied, drinking some of his tea, “I hope you know that you’ve just said you look forward to seeing my bedroom.”

Charles’ eyes widened and he blushed, “I, uh-“

Erik laughed, “Don’t worry, darling.” Charles didn’t say anything, just took another long sip from his cup. “I’m glad you like it. I do, too,” he paused. “Most of the time, anyway. It’s a bit big for just one person.”

“Mmmhm,” Charles hummed, “Too bad you don’t live higher up. You’d probably get a nice view.”

Erik made a face, “Stairs.”

Charles laughed, “Lazy.”

Erik scoffed, “I am _so_ not lazy.”

“Sure,” Charles dragged the word out.

Erik shook his head and moved closer to the boy, frowning when he saw the bruise on his left cheek. “Is there anything I can do to help with that?”

Charles looked down when he noticed what the other man was referring to, “No.”

Erik sighed, “Are you sure? It looks pretty bad.”

“I’ve had worse,” Charles’ eyes widened as the words left his mouth. He swore under his breath.

“If I ask, will you tell me?”

“I,” Charles paused and look up back into Erik’s eyes, “No,” he said, “Not yet, anyway.”

Erik nodded, “Then I won’t ask.”

Charles smiled faintly at the other man and had more tea, “Thank you.”

“Not a problem, darling.” Erik shrugged, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Charles nodded.

“Then how about I show you those other three rooms?”

Charles smiled and put down his mug next to Erik’s, following the man down a hallway. Erik stopped at the door next to the bathroom, the only other one on the left side of the hallway.

“This, darling, is where the magic happens.” Charles laughed at the term and expected to see Erik’s bedroom when he opened the door. He did not expect to see Erik’s study when the room filled with light.

The study was messier than the other rooms Charles had seen. Charles took in the large desk in the corner, the stacks of books and research logs piled on it with pens and all different types of coloured paper strewn across it. He took in both the PC and the laptop, noticing how they were on different ends of the desk. Out of the four walls, one was taken up mostly from windows, one was completely covered in bookshelves containing what looked like journals, folders and binders, another was covered in post-it notes and pieces of paper pinned up to the wall and the other, Charles laughed, was nearly completely covered in posters containing puns from various times in history.

“Those are ridiculous.”

“I know.” Erik grinned, “They’re all gifts from when I was still studying,” he laughed, “Horrible gifts, but I still find them funny.”

Charles turned to Erik and smiled, “So this is where you work?”

Erik nodded, “It’s rather messy at the moment because I’m in the middle of writing another book, but this is where I create my master pieces.”

Charles rolled his eyes, “What’s it going to be about?”

“I’m doing Russian history this time,” said Erik, leaning against the door frame, “The fall of Imperial Russia.”

“Interesting.”

Erik hummed, “Russian history is interesting,” he paused and smiled at Charles. “I expect you to be one of the first to read my book.”

“So I can be the first to tell you what complete rubbish it is?”

Erik glared and pretended to look affronted, “How dare you, Charles?” he exclaimed, placing a hand over his heart. “We all know everything I do is perfect.”

“Says who?”

“Says everyone.”

“Whatever you say, Lehnsherr.”

Erik just shook his head, “Next room?”

Charles hummed and the nervous flutter came back as he realised the next room would have to be the bedroom.

He was going to see Erik’s bedroom.

He was going to see _Lehnsherr’s_ bedroom.

He could practically hear Alex and Sean screaming at him to run and hide.

Nevertheless, Charles stifled a yawn and continued to follow Erik out of the study and back into the hall way, his nerves increasing with every second. He didn’t understand why he was so nervous; it wasn’t like they were going to _do_ anything.

“I can’t believe you’re giving me a tour of you apartment at nearly four in the morning.”

Erik laughed and stood in front of his bedroom door, “I suppose it’s not the most normal thing to do.”

“Would never have guessed,” the sarcasm in his voice was evident.

Erik rolled his eyes and grabbed the doorhandle, “Prepare to be amazed.”

“You’re making this a big thing.”

“Am not.”

“You’re almost talking up your bedroom.”

“I’ll have you know that my bedroom is rather nice.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Charles paused, “If you ever open the door.”

Erik stuck his tongue out and opened the door, ignoring Charles laugh and the whispered _mature._ He turned on the light and walked in, half jumping on his unmade bed and turning so he was facing Charles.

Charles looked around the room, taking in the large wardrobe that took up the entire right wall; noticing the one open draw with clothes hanging out slightly. He noticed the other objects in the room; the bedside tables, the rather odd looking couch in the corner, the black carpet, the silver-ish white walls, and the black chest of drawers that was covered in photo frames. His main focus, however, was the large bed in the middle of the room and the beautiful man on it.

“What do you think?”

“It’s rather messy,” Charles said, rubbing at his eyes. He was starting to feel really tired and Erik’s bed looked rather comfortable.

Erik chuckled and threw a pillow at him, “Well, I did have to jump out of bed and find more clothes to put on when you called, darling. I promise, if I had of had the time, the entire place would be spotless and up to your standards.”

Charles caught the pillow and cringed slightly, “I’m sorry for waking you up at su-“

“I don’t want to hear it, Charles. I’m glad you called me.” Charles opened his mouth again, probably to protest.

“Come here.”

“What?”

“Come here,” Erik repeated, sitting up against the bed’s headboard and patting the bed next to him.

Charles’ stomach did a flip as he walked over to Erik, clutching the pillow and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I meant what I said before, my darling,” Erik said, “If you need help, it doesn’t matter with what, you can call me. I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night. I don’t want you suffering if there’s an opportunity for me to help. Okay?”

Charles nodded.

“Okay?” Erik repeated.

Charles rolled his eyes, “Yes, okay.”

Erik grinned that big, toothy grin of his and Charles couldn’t help smiling back.

“I know there are two other rooms, but they’re boring. One’s the ensuite, which is more or less the same as the bathroom and the other just has a washer and a dryer. Not really important. I can show you them if you really want to see them, though.”

Charles shook his head and covered his mouth to stifle a yawn. It was just passed four in the morning and Charles felt like he could sleep for the next day or two.

“Tired, darling?”

“Mmhm,” Charles hummed through another yawn.

“Lie down and get some rest, darling.”

“I can’t take your bed away from you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Charles. It would be a pleasure to have you in my bed.”

Charles blushed and glared at the other man. He swore Erik said things like that solely to make him blush. The grin he got in return for his glare only supported his argument.

“I can’t take your bed away from you after at four in the morning when I’ve just woken you up, Erik.”

“Nonsense,” Erik waved a hand, dismissing Charles’ protests, “Make yourself comfortable while I go and turn all the lights off.” Erik stated, giving him another smile and leaving the room.

Charles gave in and did as he was told, not that it was hard to do; Erik’s bed was ridiculously comfortable. Charles pulled the blankets up to his shoulders and smiled when he smelt Erik all over the sheets. He didn’t have to wait long for Erik to come back into the room, turning the light off and walking to sit on the edge next to Charles.

“I think I might be able to get back to sleep, too, darling. If you need anything I’ll be on the couch, okay?”

Charles shook his head.

“No?”

“Don’t leave me,” he whispered sleepily, looking up at Erik.

Erik took one look at the younger boy and smiled faintly, “You don’t mind if…” he trailed off, standing and going over to the other side of the bed when Charles shook his head again. “You’re lucky you sleep on the left side. I would have had to kick you out altogether if you took the right side.”

Charles laughed and turned so he was facing Erik. “Lucky me, then.”

“Lucky you,” Erik replied, getting comfortable.

“Please tell me you don’t hog all the blankets.”

“I could tell you that, but it would probably be a lie.”

Charles pouted and Erik laughed. “For you, though, darling, I’ll try hard not to.”

“Thank you.”

Erik hummed, “Goodnight, my darling.”

Charles mumbled a response through another yawn. He fell asleep not long after. It didn’t take long for Erik to follow.


	5. Secrets

When Charles wakes late the next day, it’s to the feeling of someone else’s body pressed against his.

Without opening his eyes, he shifted his body closer to the one behind his, making a sound somewhere between a moan and a grunt. The other body was warm and solid against his back, long, muscular arms firmly placed around Charles’ smaller frame. Barely awake, Charles could feel the soft puffs of breath against that back of his neck, the little hairs there standing to attention. Charles sighed again, subconsciously moving one of his hands to sit atop the ones clasped around his abdomen. The blankets were only covering half of their bodies but Charles was still warm, the body next to him radiating body heat. The position was comfortable; he seemed to fit perfectly with the other body. Ling there, he felt calm.

Intertwined with the other body, Charles felt safe. He felt protected.

However, as Charles grew more aware of his surroundings, as he remembered where he was and what had happened the night before, his body went rigid. His stomach filled with nerves and he had the sudden impulse to rip away from the other body and leave the room altogether.

He didn’t though, probably couldn’t. Charles felt too content where he was; if Erik allowed him he’d probably stay there forever. There was also the issue of waking Erik up. Charles was positive that as soon as Erik woke up he’d let go of Charles and leave. That, Charles thought, was something he probably couldn’t bear. So, instead of running off and waking Erik, he stayed perfectly still, listening to the other’s breathing. It took a minute or two, but Charles slowly relaxed back into the embrace, muscle by muscle, limb by limb.

Charles smiled to himself and leans even further towards Erik and concentrates on the feeling of lying there. He focuses all of his attention of how Erik’s body feels against his, on how Erik’s arms feel wrapped around his torso. He takes note of how Erik’s breath feels coming out in little puffs of air against his neck, and how the solidness of Erik’s body behind his is, Charles thinks, probably the most comforting thing he has ever felt. He basks in the feeling of protection laying with Erik gives him. He studies it, tries to feel everything; because Erik could wake up at any minute, could jump up and go at any second and if that happens, Charles doesn’t want to forget what this feels like.

He never wants to forget what it feels like to be intertwined with Erik.

\---

Not long after he wakes up, Charles hears a groan come from behind him. His body stiffens again and he waits for Erik to realise what’s going on. He waits for Erik to pull away, he expects Erik to tell him to leave.

What he doesn’t expect is for Erik’s arms to tighten their embrace on his body and for him to curl even further around Charles, or for Erik to nuzzle his face into one of his shoulders.

He does not expect a groggy _good morning, my darling_ instead of a demand for him to leave.

Nevertheless, he can’t help but smiling to himself, “I don’t think it’s morning anymore, Erik,” is his whispered reply.

Charles feels a warm puff of air through the fabric of the sweatshirt he’s wearing as Erik lets out a small laugh, “Technicalities,” he mumbles into Charles’ shoulder.

Charles’ smile widens and the nerves in his stomach give way to a fuzzy feeling he can’t quite describe.

“I s’pose I should move.”

The word _no_ comes out of Charles mouth before he even registers the thought, “I mean, uh,” he cleared his throat, “It’s just, uh, I’m rather comfortable, aren’t you?”

Erik hummed against Charles’ shoulder, “I don’t think I would’ve moved anyway, darling.”

Erik sounds tired, as if he’s still half asleep. Charles thinks he’d probably look all cute and cuddly, a lazy grin covering his face and his eyelids still heavy. He has to stop himself from turning around and seeing if he’s right.

“Then why ask?”

“Formalities,” Erik replies, his voice quiet. They’re whispering to each other, as if speaking in their normal voices will break the calmness of the moment.

Charles huffs out a sigh that could be taken for a laugh and feels Erik smile against his shoulder before pulling back.

“You’re also supposed to look at someone when you speak to them, I believe,” Erik states, loosening his arms slightly.

Charles bites his lip to stop from smiling too large; he’s starting to feel the pain from the bruises his step-father left on him. It takes him a minute, but Charles turns so he’s facing Erik, his breath hitching slightly when he sees the other man. They’re so _close_ to each other and Erik, Charles thinks, looks adorable; like a sleep puppy or kitten. He can’t help the smile that takes over his face when he sees how _nice_ Erik looks, even when half asleep.

Unfortunately, Erik doesn’t look half as happy. He frowns and clasps his hands behind Charles’ back, holding him tightly. Charles can guess the reason for the frown; the bruise on his face hurts quite a bit, he can only imagine what it must look like now.

He shakes his head when Erik opens his mouth to speak, “I know you’re going to ask what happened.”

“Yes.”

Charles bites his lip, contemplating whether or not he should tell Erik what had happened.

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

Charles’ breathing speeds up slightly, he knows he should say something. He really ought to offer up an explanation as to why he ran off in the middle of the night, at least. He owed Erik that much, he thought.

“Charles?” Erik’s voice is still soft, gentle.

Part of him even wants to tell Erik. Not even just about last night, part of him wants to tell Erik everything; from start to finish.

“You don’t have to, darling. You don’t owe me anything,” Erik’s moves one of his hands slowly up and down Charles’ back in a comforting gesture, “I’m not going to make you tell me anything.”

There’s a pause where Charles looked up into Erik’s eyes, “When I was little, I spent most of my time with my father. Brian Xavier, his name was. I’d pretty much follow him around. He’d always let me though, always allowed me into things I probably shouldn’t have been around. All the time I spent with him, it’s what gave me such an interest in science, he worked with nuclear stuff most of the time. He used to let me help with his research,” Charles eyes are slightly unfocused, but he still smiles fondly at the memories. “Well, I say help. I was probably a nuisance more than anything. Still, though, he didn’t seem to mind. He never let me help with the dangerous stuff though, just little things, never any experiments. He said he’d allow it when I was older,” Charles bit his lip again and cleared his throat.

“It’s okay if you need to stop,” Erik’s hands never stopped their movements, and Charles was grateful for the light touch on his back.

Charles shook his head and took a deep breath, “One day, my father and his co-worker, Kurt Marko, my  now step-father,” Charles says the term with a tone of disgust Erik had never heard, “They were working on this really dangerous experiment, I forget what it was exactly, but something went wrong and there was a nuclear explosion. The lab caught fire; my father got trapped under all the rubble and couldn’t move. Kurt got injured, but he could still move. He had the opportunity to rescue my father. Instead though, he ran and left him there to die,” Charles’ voice was shaky, “And he did,” Charles paused, “I had only just turned eight.”

Erik didn’t say anything; he knew there wasn’t anything he could say that would help. Instead, he reached one of his hands up and placed in on the back of Charles’ head, gently pulling the boy against his chest and holding him tighter. Charles sighed and closed his eyes, allowing Erik’s touch to comfort him.

“It went downhill from there, really. My mother started to binge drink, spending more and more time with Kurt. Basking in their grief,” Charles voice, while still quiet, was sardonic. “Barely a year later she married him and he moved in with his son, Cain. Now my step-brother. Even at that age, I could tell he was only in it for my father’s wealth,” Charles sighed into Erik’s shoulder, “I have to admit that at the beginning it wasn’t so bad. Kurt and Cain mostly just left me alone, I spent most of my time in my father’s study, out of everyone’s way. My mother started to neglect me even more after my father died. My nanny said it was because I reminded her of him, but I doubt it.”

Charles paused, snuggling into Erik, “Anyway, three or four months after they had moved in, things got bad. At first it was just Cain, it irked him that I did better than he did at most things. At first it was just petty things, name calling, rude remarks,” Charles shook his head against Erik, “Then though, there was this test at school, I think. I did better, of course I did better; Cain isn’t known for his brains. He ended up hitting me, quite a bit, actually. It became a habit after that.”

“Some fucking habit,” Erik half growled, causing Charles to smile faintly.

“I need you to promise me you won’t get angry and do something irrational.”

“Promise.”

“ _My_ definition of irrational, not yours.”

Erik sighed, “Okay.”

Charles nodded, “My mother never noticed, by that time she was a full blown alcoholic, had no idea what was going on half the time. Kurt did, but he never said anything. Even praised Cain for doing it sometimes. There were staff members that noticed but Kurt eventually got rid of them all,” Charles sighed again, breathing out a puff of warm air against Erik’s throat, “By the time my eleventh birthday came round, Kurt had decided to join in. Apparently I was problematic and asked too many question. Every time I did something Kurt didn’t like I’d end up getting hit.”

The hand Erik had on Charles’ back clenched, “I may have to retract my promise.”

Charles sighed and pulled away from Erik, sitting up against the headboard and watching as Erik did the same, “I won’t tell you the rest.”

“Charles-“

“He makes me angry, too. Believe me, if I could I’d make him burn, Erik. I’ve never hated anyone as much as I despise him. Not even Cain. But you have to promise me. Not long and I get to leave, anyway.”

Erik didn’t look happy about it, but he grumbled out a _fine_ through clenched teeth.

“Right, well. I do believe I’ve forgotten to mention Raven. She’s my sister; well, my adopted sister, but still. Two years older than me, I was four when they adopted her. My father wanted a girl but my mother couldn’t get pregnant again, too big a risk or something,” Charles moved his neck from side to side, “In all honesty, Raven’s the reason I got through all those years with him. Raven never got hit, not by Cain or Kurt. I never allowed it; she always got annoyed at me for it too, whenever I jumped in front of her she would always go off at me later, saying I didn’t need to be putting myself through more of it because of her. I did need to though; I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if they had touched her.”

“It got worse as I grew older, of course. I started to talk back after a while. Raven said I was making it worse for myself, and in a way I was; the bigger smart ass I was, the more they’d hit me. For me, though, it made it easier, I don’t know why,” Charles ran his tongue over his bottom lip, “Anyway, when high school came around Cain was sent to a strict boarding school, which is great for me during the school year, the holidays and weekends he spends at home are hell though. It’s like he saves all of his anger for me,” Charles took another deep breath, “Not long after that, Raven left for collage. She wasn’t going to, at first, said she wanted to be here for me. Eventually I convinced her, and now she’s studying somewhere in LA. I forget the exact place but she seems to be enjoying it. But then, anything’s probably better than being stuck in a house with an abusive step-family and a mother who can barely remember you, right?”

Erik reached his hand out slowly and grabbed Charles’, intertwining their fingers together and rubbing his thumb against Charles’ soft skin.

“My mother’s been sick lately, something to do with her liver. The other week, the bruise you noticed, I got it when my stepfather found out about it. Yesterday we found out she’s most likely going to die within the next year. But that’s not why Kurt hit me, no. He was happy to hear the news; he thought he’d be getting my father’s money. As he found out yesterday, however, he won’t be,” Charles smiled slightly, “At least, not a lot of it. My father’s will said that if he died before Raven or I were eighteen, our mother would be in charge of the money, but once we were eighteen it was ours for us to do what we wanted. My mother got a portion of it, of course, but the bulk is belongs to Raven and me. Raven already has her share, and next week I’ll get mine.”

“Kurt didn’t think about who my father left his wealth to. He thought the majority of it was left to my mother and that when she died he would end up getting most of it. As you can probably imagine, he wasn’t too happy when he found out that wasn’t the case. He got drunk, he threw a fit, he hit me and then left, then came back in the middle of the night and starting throwing another tantrum. I probably should have pretended to be asleep still, but he probably would have come up to my room to get me,” Looking down, Charles took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, “I don’t like when people yell, Erik. Hitting I can handle, but yelling has always affected me in a weird way. So when I got the opportunity, I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could, and when I stopped, I called you.”

There were a few moments of silence between them before Charles looked back over at Erik, watching as the other man tried to think of what to say, “I don’t want you to say anything.”

“What?”

“I’ve never told anyone that, the only other person that known most of that is Raven. I don’t want you to say anything about it. I don’t need you to.”

“You can’t honestly expect me to act as if you’ve just said none of that, Charles.”

“I don’t expect that, no,” Charles said, “I want you to think about it; see if it clears any confusion you have regarding me. Most people don’t know what to say to stuff like this; they usually go for the ‘I’m so sorry’ and ‘I can’t believe someone would do that’ or ‘if you ever need anything, you know I’m here’ rubbish. I know you feel bad about it, Erik. I know they you’re being honest when you say I can come to you for help. What you’re thinking and feeling, _I know_. You don’t have to say it.”

Erik shook his head, “You amaze me, Charles Xavier.”

“Of course I do. What else would you expect?” Charles grinned, clutching at Erik’s hand, “I’m amazing.”

Erik smiled faintly back, “Is there anything else you want?” Erik asked in that gentle tone of his, the one he only ever used with Charles.

“I wouldn’t mind the permission to use your bathroom and some food.”

Erik huffed out a laugh, “Truly incomprehensible, darling,” he murmured, as he got out of bed. A bathroom break and some food didn’t sound bad at all.

\---

They were sitting next to each other at the kitchen bench, eggs, toast and tea in front of them. Erik had smiled sheepishly at Charles when he’d placed the plates on the bench, muttering a quiet _I really need to do the shopping_.

They ate in comfortable silence at first; it was odd, how they seemed to just fit into a domestic routine.

“I was right, you know.”

“What?” Erik asked.

“It isn’t morning. It’s nearly one.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “I texted Emma last night saying you wouldn’t be coming in today.”

“Shit,” Charles eyes winded, “I forgot I had a shift.”

“She said it’s fine, as long as you show up tomorrow.”

“That doesn’t sound like Emma.”

“It was worded differently, but that’s what she said.”

Charles sighed, “Thank you, I completely forgot.”

“Always here to help, darling.”

\---

“I’m surprised you don’t have any question,” they were sitting on Erik lounge now, barely any space between them. The television was off; both preferring each other’s company.

 “I do.”

“You can ask them, you know.”

“How old is Cain?”

Charles smiled, that wasn’t what he had been expecting, “He’s seventeen, like me. Eighteen next June.”

“Does anyone else know about the situation?”

“If they do, they haven’t said anything.”

Erik nodded, as if processing the information, “And, uh,” he shifted awkwardly, “I don’t mean to be offensive or anything, but-”

“How wealthy was my father?” Charles supplied, watch Erik as he nodded. The other man looked cute when awkward, Charles noticed. “I’m not going to give you numbers, because to be honest I don’t know the exact ones. But my father was a millionaire. He took care of his money, he didn’t waste it on anything or buy ridiculous things because he could; he said he wanted to make sure Raven and I had something when he died. My inheritance, it’s enough to set me up for life. The house I live in now, if Raven agrees, is mine, along with a considerable amount of money.”

Erik let out a low whistle, “Pretty good eighteenth birthday present.”

Charles laughed, “Guess so.”

“Speaking of birthdays,” Erik continued, “You said you get your inheritance next week. Does that mean…?”

“I turn eighteen next week, yes. It’s next Saturday, to be exact, November twenty-second.”

“Charles, that is not enough notice to get you something amazing.”

Charles smiled, “You don’t need to get me anything.”

Erik glared playfully at the younger man, “This isn’t up for debate, darling. I _will_ get you something amazing.”

“Whatever you say, Erik.”

\---

It was nearly seven in the afternoon and Charles was sprawled out on one of Erik couches, his head resting in Erik’s lap with a movie playing in the background that no one was really watching or listening to it. Both men were still dressed in their pyjamas; Charles because he didn’t really have anything else to change into and Erik because he just wasn’t bothered. They’d decided to order in, neither bothered to cook, resulting in empty pizza boxes on the coffee table.

Charles felt relaxed where he was, he felt calm. It was surprising how easily he fit into Erik’s apartment. It was different, Charles thought, being in such a relaxed environment. It was _nice_.

Charles liked being in Erik’s apartment, although he did have to admit that sometimes it was a bit much. Being so close to Erik and not being able to _do_ anything. Erik seemed to have no sense of personal space when it came to Charles, he always had a hand on him, or at least one part of their bodies was always touching. Not that Charles minded, no; Charles was comfortable around Erik in a way he he’d never been with anyone else, not even Raven. It seems like Erik was comfortable around him, too; he always seems to act in a happier, more care-free way when he was around Charles.

It was surreal, how quickly he’d become attached to this man; this man that so many people seemed to be scared of. Charles still didn’t understand _why_. He’d gotten to know Erik pretty well over the past few months, Charles thought, and the only thing that had suggested any of the rumours were true was the man’s temper, how he’d be ready to hurt someone whenever he got angry. And that wasn’t even unusual; a lot of people are like that when they’re angry. Even Charles gets that way sometimes; it wasn’t enough for him to believe Erik would actually severely hurt anyone, let alone kill them.

Despite everything, despite all the warnings he got from other people and the second-guessing, Charles wanted. Oh _god_ did he want. He wanted Erik in a way he’d never wanted anyone or anything before. Sometimes, when he’d turn to look at Erik only to find the other man mere inches away from his face, he had to stop himself from leaning in and closing the gap. He wanted to discover Erik, to find out everything he possibly could.

Sometimes, he’d allow himself to think Erik wanted him back; because, really, sometimes it seemed like he did. They were too close; they acted too freely around each other.  Charles knew that Erik flirted with him, (no man calls his friend _my darling_ without reason), and he knew he flirted back. If he was honest, their banter was one of his favourite things about their relationship. Charles was positive that he’d mistake them as a couple if he were an onlooker.

 

He shifted his body, looking up into Erik’s eyes. Erik smiled at him and moved a hand to run through Charles’ hair.

Charles nearly whimpered at the touch.

Erik huffed a laugh, “You like that then, darling?”

“Mmhm,” Charles hummed in agreement, closing his eyes.

“I get the feeling you want to ask something.”

“I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“Things,” he murmured, “People have said about you.”

Erik continued moving his hands through Charles hair, “I think it’s about time I clear some stuff up. Ask me questions, or tell me things and I’ll see if I can give you an answer that explains it.”

Charles squinted at him, “Really?”

“Yes,” Erik smiled, “I can’t have you thinking I’m a serial killer.”

“I can ask anything?”  Charles asked, closing his eyes again and leaning into Erik’s touch.

“Yes.”

“How’d you meet Emma?”

“That wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“You still have to answer.”

“I do,” Erik paused, “Collage. We were friends, of sorts. We didn’t see each other for a few years after I graduated but we always kept some type of contact.”

Charles nodded; it matched up with what Emma had told him, “Not that I think you have, but it’s a standard question: Ever killed anyone?”

Erik laughed, “No.”

Charles smiled, “How old are you?”

“Twenty nine, thirty in January,” Charles smiled, “What?”

“You look older.”

“I do not.”

“Mmmhm, Alex and Sean think you’re in your forties.”

“I’m not,” Erik defended himself and Charles whined slightly when he stopped running his hands through his hair.

“Never said you were,” replied Charles, “Please don’t stop what you were doing.”

“You remind me of a little kitten, Charles,” he started moving his hand again, “Any minute now and you’ll start meowing.”

Charles sighed quietly in pleasure when Erik started moving his hand again, “I will not.”

“Mmhm, sure,” Erik laughed, “Next question.”

“There’s a second set of rules at the café,” Charles started, “In relation to you. Do you know about them?”

“No.”

“I think Sean made them, probably with Alex. They’re ridiculous, really. But there’s one that says something like ‘do not piss Lehnsherr off, remember what happened last time’. What happened last time?”

There was a pause while Erik thought about it before suddenly, “Oh.”

“Oh?”

“I forgot about that.”

“About what?” Charles asked, opening his eyes and looking at Erik.

Erik looked back at him, “There was this guy that used to go out with Emma. Sebastian, his name was. He seemed like a bit of a deadbeat to me, but Emma liked him. She gave him a job, too, working out back in the Café,” Erik cleared his throat, “Anyway, they ended up going out for a while, over a year, and he got more and more controlling, and annoying. One day I saw him out with another girl. Turns out he’d be cheating for a little over ten months; which was more than half of their relationship. Emma and I, while we haven’t always spoken, are still good friends, Charles. She’s like a little sister in a weird, motherly type of way. I didn’t want to see her hurt, so I confronted him about it the next day. It just so happened he was working.”

“Ah.”

“Mmhm,” Erik grinned guiltily, “We got into a fight, and I ended up breaking his jaw.”

“Well,” Charles said, thinking the information over, “I have to admit that explains quite a lot.”

“That’s the only time they’ve seen me do anything violent, I think. I can’t think of anything else I’ve done.”

“What happened to the guy?”

“He never came back.”

“Did you tell Emma?”

Erik nodded, “I was forgiven for what I did straight away,” Erik smiled fondly. “Have I scared you?”

“Hardly.”

“Good.”

“Do you know who comes up with some of the rumours?”

Erik shook his head,“I’m not known to back down from a fight. Nor am I known to lose one very often,” Erik said, looking down at his hand, watching as it ran through the soft locks of Charles’ hair. “I got in enough of them when I was younger, around twenty or so, for people to talk. I’m not exactly sure what they said, but I think whatever it was just got worse and worse as it moved from one person to another.”

“Doesn’t really explain why people think you’re eating your neighbours’ pets, though,” Charles said, smirking.

Erik laughed, leaning his head against the couch, “A little girl’s cat ran away a few months ago, apparently, and I’ve gotten the blame. I think she’s told the kids who live around here and it’s progressed.”

Charles grinned, “I’d hate to think I have my head in the lap of a man who eats poor, harmless cats.”

“Have you ever had a cat, Charles? They’re hardly harmless.”

“True. I’ve been victim to their claws a fair few times.” Charles paused, “I have my next question.”

Erik nodded, waiting for it.

“Do you plan on taking me back to my house or am I staying here again?” Charles asked, slightly nervous. He was hoping it was the latter, he’d been thinking about it all day. Not once had Erik mentioned anything about where he was going to stay.

“That’s not even a question. You’ll be lucky if I let you go back at all.”

“Going to lock me up, are you?”

“Maybe.”

Charles just grinned in response.

“Have any more questions, darling?”

Charles hummed, thinking it over. He had one more he wants to ask but he wasn’t sure how, “It’s not really a question, but I have one more. You’re going to put me to sleep soon,” as if to prove his point, Charles shut his eyes once more.

“Fire away, my darling.”

“Last night, on the phone, you called me baby,” a faint blush covered Charles’ face.

Erik hummed, “I did. Did you mind?”

“Oh, god no.” Charles breathed out, his blush spreading to his neck.

Erik chuckled slightly as he leaned down and whispered, “Do you blush below the collar, baby?”

Charles went even redder, turning his body and hiding his face against Erik’s leg, mumbling a response Erik couldn’t quite catch.

\---

They were in bed now, Erik with his back against the headboard and Charles next to him, his head resting on Erik’s chest. They sat like that for a while, not talking about anything in particular; books, movies, Erik’s work, Charles’ school life. It was nice, just being with each other.

“Charles?”

“Mmhm?”

“Do you mind?”

“Mind what?”

“The age difference,” Erik clarified, “I’m twelve years your senior. I mean, it doesn’t bother me but I thought maybe it might bother you.”

“No,” Charles replied, honestly. It had at first, a little bit, but the more he got to now Erik the less it mattered to him.

“Really?”

Charles turned his head up to tell Erik that _yes, really, he didn’t care at all,_ but shut his mouth when he saw Erik.

His breath hitched; the man looked beautiful, looking at Charles with big, open eyes. Their faces were so close Charles could see every detail, the light stubble on Erik’s jaw, the small creases around his eyes and mouth. He noticed Erik’s eyes were a dark grey, his pupils dilated. He looked down to the man’s lips; his breath speeding up when Erik parted them slightly and ran his tongue along his bottom lip. Charles wanted nothing more than to lean forward and kiss Erik.

Without thinking about it, Charles leant forward and closed the gap; he’d held himself back too much that day, his self-control was worn out. Erik met him half way, his hand coming up to tangle in Charles’ hair. Erik pulled their bodies closer, licking his way into Charles’ mouth. Charles whimpered, moving his tongue against Erik’s and gripping the man’s biceps.

Erik grins against Charles’ mouth and pulls back, kissing his way up to Charles ear and whispering, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that, darling.”

Charles leans into Erik’s touch, moaning quietly, “Believe me, I do.”

Erik kisses Charles gently below the ear, “Every time I say you, Charles,” he punctuates each word with a kiss against Charles’ jaw, “I swear I thought I was going to jump over the counter and jump you. Everyone else be dammed.”

Charles pulls back and looks at Erik, “You should have,” he says, leaning forward and kissing Erik again.

Erik tightens his hand in Charles hand and brings the other up to cup his jaw, relishing the feeling of finally being able to kiss Charles. He bites the boy’s lower lip gently, smiling when he hears Charles whimper again.

“You’re rather verbal, aren’t you, baby?” he whispers it against Charles’ mouth and opens his eyes, feeling rather smug when he sees Charles blush. “Don’t worry, darling, it’s a good thing,” He kisses him again, pushing Charles on his back and leaning over him, one hand on his neck and the other his waist.

Charles arches up slightly when Erik’s tongue runs over the roof of his mouth, one of his hands moving to tangle in Erik’s hair. Part of him thinks he’s dreaming, he’s wanted it for so long he can’t quite believe it’s happening. But then, Erik pulls back and looks at him, smiling as he runs his tongue over his bottom lip,

“As much as I regret to do it, darling,” Erik starts, “I think we should stop.”

“We only just started,” Charles pouts, “I don’t want to stop.”

Erik can’t help but kiss Charles again, shot and sweet, laughing softly when Charles lifts his head up, trying to follow his mouth.

“You need to be up early, darling,” Erik grins, still above Charles, “But don’t worry, we’ll have enough time to do everything you want to.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to fall asleep now.”

Erik moved so he was next to Charles again, pulling the boy against his side and moving a hand to run through his hair, smirking as he felt the boy relax almost instantly, “Something tells me you can.”

“Fuck you,” Charles mumbles and pulls the blankets up to his shoulder, snuggling into Erik’s side.

He’s nearly asleep when he hears Erik whisper “That’s going a bit fast, darling. All I was hoping for was to see if the other parts of your body are as beautiful as your face is when you blush,” Erik kissed Charles on his forehead, smirking when he felt the boy’s skin heat up.


	6. Cars and Cafés

“Erik, we really ought to leave,” Charles breathed as Erik started to kiss his neck again.

Erik didn’t bother replying, instead pushing Charles harder against a wall of his apartment and nipping at the boy’s exposed collarbone.

“I’m going to be late.”

Again, Erik didn’t respond, just continued with what he was doing.

“Erik,” Charles tried again, except this time his voice sounded less like a protest and more like a moan.

He felt Erik grin against his skin and place one last kiss to the spot he had been gnawing at for the past five minutes before he pulled back and looked at Charles, grin still in place.

“You gave me a hickey, didn’t you?”

Erik straightened out his clothing and rolled his shoulders before grabbing Charles’ hand and pulling him out of the apartment.

“ _Erik_.”

“Come, darling, you’ll be late if we don’t leave now,” he paused, “You could still call in sick you know. It’s a wonder how you _aren’t_ sick considering what happened Friday.”

Charles rolled his eyes and rubbed the spot Erik had been attacking as they half-jogged to the car, “Asshole.”

Erik smirked and opened the door for Charles, “Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it.”

“And I can’t do that, I already took yesterday off.”

Erik shook his head fondly.

“If I do end up being late,” Charles continued as Erik drove out the car park, “Which, undoubtedly I will be, you get to explain to Emma the reason for it.”

“Fine by me, darling.”

“And why I’m wearing her pants.”

Erik grinned at him again, “We couldn’t have you going to work in your bed clothes, Charles. And the only pants I had in my apartment that would fit you belong to Emma.”

“You’re sure she won’t be annoyed?”

“I doubt she’s going to remember she ever had them.”

“I must look ridiculous,” Charles stated, shifting in his seat, “I’m wearing my boss’ pants, my bed shirt and your ridiculously oversized jacket.”

“And you have a rather nice love bite to go with it,” Erik glanced at him briefly before turning back to the road, “Which is impossible to miss due to the low cut of your shirt.”

Charles scowled at him and did the jacket all the way up, covering his collarbones and neck as much as he could, “You realise I’m going to get harassed all day now, don’t you?”

“Like I said before, don’t act as if you didn’t enjoy it, darling.”

“I never said I _didn’t_ enjoy it,” Charles replied, “My issue is that Alex and Sean are going to continuously ask me who I got it from and how I got it.”

“I’d say how is pretty obvious, wouldn’t you?”

Charles rolled his eyes.

 “You can tell them the truth, if you want. I don’t mind,” He said, glancing at Charles again, “You could tell them it was a girl, if they don’t know your orientation.”

“They know. They wouldn’t be so worried about you if they thought I was straight.”

Erik chuckled, “Why don’t you tell them I got sick of eating the neighbours’ pets and I decided to go after pretty young men instead.” Erik pulled into the Café’s near empty car park, turning off the engine he looked at Charles and smiled, “You could come up with a heroic tale for how you managed to escape.”

Charles laughed loudly, “They’d probably believe me and call the police, or something.”

Erik grabbed Charles’ hand as he went to undo his seatbelt, “You don’t need to tell them anything, baby.”

“I know,” he replied, “It’d just be easier to tell them than to deal with the harassment all day.”

“I could scare them to the point where they wouldn’t be able to talk, if you want.”

That made Charles giggle slightly as he got out of the car, Erik following suite.

“You’re not too late, are you?”

Charles checked his phone, “Seven minutes,” he said, breaking out into a jog.

“Hopefully she hasn’t noticed,” Erik called out, not bothering to quicken his pace. It was probably better if they didn’t walk in together.

Charles didn’t think Emma wouldn’t notice, she always noticed when someone was late. And she didn’t like it, whether it was five seconds or fifteen minutes.

Charles wasn’t disappointed as he walked into the Café and was greeted with a loud “Late!” from Emma when she saw him.

“Sorry!” He replied, catching the apron Alex threw at him and jumping behind the counter. Luckily for him there were very few customers there so early on a Sunday morning.

Emma came over and stood in front of him, “Give me the excuse, sugar,” Emma said, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Uh,” he cleared his throat. He forgot how intimidating Emma could be when she wanted to.

“I had car troubles,” Erik supplied, walking up behind Emma.

She turned around and faced him, her intimidation failing as he towered over her, “Did you now?”

“Yep,” he smirked.

She rolled her eyes.

“I need to talk to you.”

“What about?” Emma asked, surprised.

“Things.”

“What type of things?”

“Come talk and you’ll find out.”

Emma turned back to Alex and Charles, “Don’t ruin my Café.”

\---

“Charles?”

“Yes, Alex?”

“Why’d you come in with Lehnsherr?”

Charles blushed slightly, “I, uh, didn’t. He came in after me”

Alex’s eyes narrowed, “Then why is his car having issues a valid excuse for you being late?”

Charles shrugged, “Dunno.”

“ _Charles.”_

Charles didn’t say anything.  Alex to rolled his eyes.

“Is this because of the meeting?”

“Is what because of the meeting?”

“Don’t play dumb, Charles,” Alex sighed. This obviously wasn’t going to be easy. “Is you going off with Lehnsherr ‘cause of the meeting?” Alex paused, “Like how when parents don’t like their kid’s boyfriend or something and instead of the kid listening, they just get even more involved with the boyfriend.”

Charles turned to the other boy, “Alex, you guys are not my parents and Erik is not my boyfriend.” Or maybe he was, Charles wasn’t entirely sure about titles. He didn’t really care as long as he got to have Erik. “And I’m not a kid,” he continued, “I’m older than you _and_ Sean.”

Alex opened his mouth, probably to argue back, but was cut short when a bunch of customers came in, grabbing Charles’ attention.

\---

“Tell me you didn’t fuck the kid, Erik.”

They were outside now, jackets tugged closely around them to protect them from the breeze.

“He’s not a kid, Emma. He’s eighteen next week,” Erik paused and looked at her, “And no, I didn’t _fuck_ him.”

“He stayed at your apartment, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Your self-control amazes me, sugar. He spent the night at your apartment and you managed to keep your hands to yourself. Good job.”

“Two nights,” Erik mumbled, kicking a piece of gravel.

Emma’s eyebrows raised, “Two?” Erik nodded, “Even more impressive.”

“Just because I didn’t fu-“ he cleared his throat, “Just because I didn’t sleep with him doesn’t mean I was entirely innocent.”

Emma smirked, “Details. Now.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking. We just kissed.”

“Just kissed?”

“It was heated kissing, if that counts.”

“There better be something to show for it, or I won’t _forget_ he was late.”

Erik smirked.

“That’s why his jacket’s done all the way up to his chin, isn’t it?”

Erik looked rather pleased with himself as he nodded.

“Smug, possessive bastard.”

“I am not possessive.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Maybe a little.”

“When did it happen?”

“Last night.”

“He was at your apartment for an entire night and day and you didn’t attack him?” Emma sounded genuinely surprised, or impressed. Erik was never really sure.

“Yes.”

“ _Why?”_

“He wasn’t really in the best state of mind on Friday.”

“Why?” Emma asked again, this time with a protective tone.

“He was having some troubles at home.”

“What kind?”

“I can’t tell you,” Erik sighed, “I’m lucky he even told me. I’m not going to run around letting everyone know.”

“Should I be worried?”

Erik took a deep breath, “I don’t know,” he said honestly, “He’s alright now, I guess. But still go easy on him?”

Emma saw the odd look in Erik’s eyes and nodded, slightly confused. “Alright, sugar.”

Erik smiled at her faintly and leant over to kiss her cheek, “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she replied, “If you hurt that boy, in any way, shape or form, I will slaughter you. Understood?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Erik’s smile turned into a slightly creepy grin. “I’ll be back later to get him.”

As Erik turned and left, she knew he meant it. It’d only been a few months and Emma could already tell Erik would move heaven and Earth if Charles so much as suggested it.

\---

Charles watched the exchange from the corner of his eye as he served customers. He watched as Erik leant over and kissed Emma on the cheek before leaving, surprised at the spurt of jealousy he got. It was ridiculous, Charles told himself, to be feeling jealous over _that._

Emma walked in and smiled. “He’ll be back later, honey,” she looked to make sure Alex was us before whispering, “Because it’s the first time it’s happened, I’ll let you off for being late. But know that next time a make out session won’t cut it, your excuse will have to be _mind-blowing_ sex.”

Emma winked at him and walked off, leaving Charles to serve the next customer blushing furiously.

\---

“Charles, it’s ridiculously hot in here. Why are you still wearing a jacket?” Sean asked, not for the first time that morning.

Charles sighed, _because Erik can’t keep his hands to himself._ “I told you, I’m cold.”

“You’re sweating.”

“I am not.”

“I can see it, Charles.”

“Me too,” Alex chimed in.

 “Are you hiding something?” Sean continued, following Charles around.

“Did someone do something to you?”

“Was it Lehnsherr?”

Charles rolled his eyes, “Would you two leave it alone, please?” His hand reached up to rub at his collarbone.

Alex’s eyes widened, “CHARLES HAS A HICKEY!”

More than one customer looked over at them, the confusion evident.

“Would you _shut up?”_ Charles hissed through clenched teeth, blushing furiously.

“Oh my god, it’s true!”

“Show us,” Sean said, looking over expectantly.

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Charlessssss,” his name was dragged out, making him roll his eyes again.

“You two have jobs to be doing.”

“This is more important.”

“More interesting,” Sean agreed.

“Come on, Charles,” Alex said, “Just one quick look to see if he’s any good at it.”

Charles raised an eyebrow, “You don’t need to see, I can tell you that he is _very_ good at it.”

“Seeing it would help.”

“Yeah,” Sean joined in, “Helps with the validation.”

“No,” Charles said, once again.

“Please?” Both boys asked in unison.

Charles internally groaned and gave up, “Will it make you shut up?”

“Yes.”

Charles sighed and took off his apron, placing it on the counter. After he unzipped Erik’s jacket, pulling his shirt down so his collarbones were on display.

Alex let out a low whistle and Charles blushed, “Happy now?”

“Who was it?”

“Do we know him?”

“Did you get a boyfriend without telling us, Charles?”

“Is he older?”

“Did you meet him at school?”

“How’d it happen?”

“When did it happen? Looks pretty new.”

“Are you doing the dirty?”

“Do you need us to buy you condoms? We can get you condoms.”

Charles sighed again as he put his work apron back on, which, luckily for him, seemed to mostly cover up the hickey Erik had left him with. “I’m not telling you who he is, I don’t know if he’s my boyfriend, yes he is older, no he isn’t from school, how it happened should be obvious, yes it is recent, no we aren’t ‘doing the dirty’, and no, I do not need you to buy me condoms.”

“That leaves one question,” Sean started, “Do we know him?”

 _Yes,_ “No, can’t say you do.”

“Are you sure?”

“We probably know him.”

“You probably know _of_ him,” Charles said, “But I doubt you actually know him.”

“What’s his name?”

“Not telling.”

“Aw, come on, Charles.”

Charles was about to say _no_ for the umpteenth time when Emma walked past, glaring at Alex and Sean.

“I don’t believe I pay you to talk about hickeys and condoms and Charles’ love life, so if you could kindly _get back to work.”_

They got back to work.

\---

Charles was sitting in the back of the Café on his break when he felt his phone buzz.

**How are things going, my darling?**

_I dislike you at an extreme level again._

**They ended up harassing you over my lil’ love bite, then?**

_Certainly not little._

_But, yes. They won’t leave it alone._

**What’d you tell them?**

_Not much, really. They don’t know it’s you._

_I said it was an older guy that they probably know of. Which isn’t really lying._

**When you do decide to tell them it was me, can I please be there.**

_Why?_

**I think I’ll find the looks of complete betrayal rather amusing.**

_You would._

And then, _What are you doing?_

**Decided to try and write some more. Not really working out.**

_Why not?_

**Because I keep thinking about you and it’s distracting me.**

_You’re just saying that._

**Believe me, darling, I’m not.**

**How long until you get to come back to me?**

_Two and a half hours._

**:(**

_I can actually picture you pouting._

**That’s because I am.**

_Man-child._

**That’s me.**

There was a pause.

**I’ll take you to lunch when you finish. Or maybe bring you back here and cook proper food for you.**

_You went and did the shopping then?_

**Yup.**

_Good. The contents of your fridge and cupboards were a bit worrying._

**It’s so sweet that you worry about me, Charles.**

_I never said that._

**It was implied.**

_Not really._

**Yes really.**

_I’m going to go now._

**No! :(**

_I have a job to get back to._

**Aren’t I more important?**

_Nope, can’t say you are._

**I am deeply wounded by that, Charles, deeply wounded.**

_Goodbye, Erik._

**:(**

**Until we speak again, my darling.**

\---

“I missed you,” Erik says as he pulls out of the car park.

“I was only gone for a few hours.”

“Yeah, but now that I can kiss you and touch you and just hold you, I’d rather be doing it all the time.”

Charles blushes faintly, and grins. “You can kiss and touch and hold me now, if you want to.”

Erik swerves the car into an alleyway behind the Café, breaking abruptly and looking over at Charles, who looks back a little shocked.

“Eager,” he murmurs, smirking at Erik and undoing his seatbelt.

Erik does the same, leaning over the gear box and grabs Charles face, thumb rubbing gently at his jaw. “You have no idea,” he says, and Charles thinks he does have an idea but then Erik kisses him and Charles doesn’t really think much after that.

They kiss for a few minutes, tongues clashing against each other’s. Charles has never been happier to know Erik’s car windows are tinted, not that anyone really goes near the alleyway they were in, but still, he’d rather avoid _that_.

Erik pulls back and Charles tries to follow his mouth, pouting at him when Erik laughs softly.

“Charles?”

“What?”

“Just so I know,” Erik starts, slightly awkward, “Have you ever…” he trailed off, trying to find the right words to say.

“Have I ever done anything with a guy?” Charles supplied, surprisingly not awkward. Erik nodded and Charles smiled faintly, “No,” he paused, “Can’t say I’ve done that much with a girl, either.”

Charles nearly laughs at the look Erik gives him.

“Don’t look so surprised, Erik. I’m not exactly well liked.”

“Neither was I, but I still managed to-“ he cut himself off, clearing his throat. “What I mean is I don’t understand how someone that looks as good as you, regardless if you’re liked or now, hasn’t gotten any.”

“I’m flattered you think I’m that attractive, Erik.”

“You _are_.”

Charles just smiled at him, “I don’t mind, if I’m honest. Makes this better.”

“A whole lot of pressure has been put on me now, you realise.”

“Not really.”

“Yes really. I have to make this spectacular for you.”

“Erik, you could be completely horrible at everything sex related and chances are I have nothing to compare it to and wouldn’t know.”

“Yeah, bu-“

“Shut up and kiss me, Erik.”

Erik did at he was told, leaning over the middle and kissing Charles again, hand reaching up to tangle in the soft locks of Charles’ hair.

“I hope you know,” Charles whispers against his lips, “That just because I haven’t done much, it doesn’t mean I’m going to make you wait. I’ve been _wanting_ to do these things for a very long time now.”

Erik kisses him again, harder this time, his tongue forcing its way into Charles’ mouth and his hands trying to get Charles as close as possible.

He pulls back for air, looking at the gap between them, “This isn’t working, darling, come here.” Erik says, patting his lap.

Charles grins and climbs over the middle, reaching for Erik who grabs him firmly and helps him move his body until Charles is straddling Erik in the driver’s seat. There isn’t much room for Charles to move about in the front but Charles doesn’t want to stop and waste time moving to the back. He smiles at Erik nervously before leaning in, Erik meeting him half way. He kisses Erik hard, mouth opening and hands reaching up to tug at Erik’s hair.

They pull away from each other after a few minutes, sucking in long breaths. Erik tugs at Charles’ jacked pushing it off his shoulders and throwing in on the other seat. He moves his hands so they’re gripping at Charles, one on his neck and the other on his ass. Erik kisses him again, anywhere he can reach. Charles giggles slightly when Erik runs his tongue over the roof of his mouth, causing Erik to pull back and look at him, amusement written all over his face.

“Ticklish?” he asks, hands gently petting Charles.

Charles nods and then moans when Erik starts to palm his ass.

Erik slides his other hand under Charles’ thin shirt, running his nails down Charles’ back. He shivers and Erik smirks at him, pushing Charles back slightly to grab the boy’s shirt and pull it over his head, throwing it to where the jacket is. He holds Charles where he is and looks at him, takes in the beautiful body. Charles watches, watches at Erik’s eyes rake over his body and take everything in; watches at the other man’s eyes grow darker with desire, his tongue coming out to swipe at his lower lip. He blushes, he’s never been ashamed of his body but there, with Erik staring at it and running his hands ever so gently over his torso, he can’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. Erik pulls him closer and grins at Charles when he notices he’s blushing, the blush trailing don his neck and to his upper chest the longer he looks. He lifts a hand up and rubs slightly at the hickey he gave Charles in the morning.

He leans forward and kisses Charles again, gently this time, “Beautiful, darling,” he gives him another gentle kiss, “So beautiful.”

Charles blush deepens and he grabs at the hems of Erik’s shirt, clearing his throat, “Can I?” Erik nods and helps Charles lift his shirt up, throwing it somewhere when it’s finally off.

Charles can’t help but stare because _really,_ Erik’s body is just fucking ridiculous, all firm and muscular and all Charles wants to do run his mouth and hands all over it Erik. So he does, hands moving to grip at Erik’s slim waist as he presses soft kisses on Erik’s body, starting at his jaw and moving down his neck and to his collarbones and shoulders. 

Erik moves his hands so one’s gripping at Charles’ hips, holding him firmly and the other gently holding the back of Charles’ head. Charles moves his kisses further down, mouth latching on to one of Erik’s nipples; the position he’s in hurts slightly but the way Erik has started panting makes up for it. He feels Erik tangle his hand in his hair, pushing his face further against his body. If he could, Charles would smile. He nips slightly at Erik’s nipple, earning himself a quiet moan, before he pulls back and gives the other one the same treatment. Not long after, he pulls back and looks at Erik, giving him a small smile.

“Never done this before, huh?” Erik asks, hands dropping to rest at the base of his neck.

“Never,” he whispers, still smiling. “I’m just very adaptable.”

Erik just shakes his head and pulls him in for another kiss; it’s sloppy, they’re really just panting into each other’s mouths while their hands roam each other’s body.  Erik pulls Charles’ body closer to his and Charles freezes and pulls back when he feels Erik’s erection against his.

He doesn’t really know what to do, he kind of feels like apologising at first, which is just stupid and he realises that but things like this _don’t_ usually happen to Charles; in fact, _this_ had never happened to Charles. He’s hard, too, of course. He’d had been from the beginning; it was just that, for some ridiculous reason, he hadn’t expected Erik to get hard. He groans internally as he starts blushing again.

“We can stop,” Erik says between pants, “If you want to.”

Charles looks at him, “Don’t be an _idiot_ ,” he breaths. “Of course I don’t want to stop. It’s just,” he paused awkwardly, “I didn’t expect you to…” he trails off, looking up at Erik.

“React like that?” Charles nods and Erik moves his hands gently over his sides, “Why not?”

“I don’t know,” he admits honestly, “I’ve _definitely_ never done this before.”

“I mean it, Charles; we can stop if you want to.”

Charles shakes his head defiantly, “No, no, no,” he breaths, leaning in to kiss Erik again, “Never stop.” He still can’t believe it, really, that Erik wanted him in this way. He’d fantasised about it countless times and he felt kind of stupid now that once he got it, he stopped.

Erik’s hands went back to his hips and Charles deepened the kiss, tasting Erik’s mouth again, he taste like mint and tea and something that was just so _Erik_ Charles wanted to laugh, or cry. They pull back and Charles starts to kiss Erik’s throat again; he pants against Erik’s skin, kissing and licking against the spot where he can feel Erik’s pulse racing. He decides to get Erik back for that morning, scraping his teeth against the spot and sucking hard against Erik’s throat. Erik moans, loudly, and Charles smiles to himself. A hand comes to rest against his skull again and Charles continues his attack on the skin, kissing and sucking and licking Erik’s throat.

He moves his body as close to Erik as he can and groans, long and loud, when he feels Erik’s clothed erection against his. Erik moans, too, quieter than Charles but it still gives him the encouragement needed to press his hips down against Erik’s. He does it tentatively, at first, like he’s scared of hurting someone or doing it wrong. Erik starts meeting his thrusts, hands gripping Charles’ hips so tightly he’s positive there’ll be oddly shaped bruises there tomorrow. He moans with each thrust, rocking into Erik’s body. It feels so _good_ and god, Charles never wants to stop. He never wants to do anything that isn’t _this_.

The jeans he’s wearing aren’t really the best fitted for this, Charles thinks. There’s no room for his cock and it’s uncomfortable in more than one way but he doesn’t think there’s enough room for him to take them off. Even if there was, he’d have to move off of Erik and that doesn’t seem like something he’s capable of at the moment.

Erik’s moans are increasing in volume as he thrusts his hips up faster and faster and Charles think’s it’s the most amazing sound he’s ever heard and _fuck_ Erik is like this because of _him,_ not anyone else but _him_.

He kisses Erik again, like his life depends on it and Charles thinks perhaps it does. It’s sloppy, the kiss, there’s too much teeth and tongue and too much panting but Charles feels so damn _good._ Erik’s guiding his hips down, making him grind even harder against the other man and _fuck fuck fuck_ Charles doesn’t think he’s going to last very long. Erik moves his head to the crook of Charles neck, panting and leaving kisses against the skin while he’s clinging to Erik, body arched and mouth hanging open, moaning and whimpering incoherent sentences as Erik gets more and more desperate.

“ _Erik,”_ he whimpers, clawing at the other man’s back. “I’m not, oh god, _more,_ going to last very long.”

The pace of Erik’s movements increases and Charles feels Erik kiss him just behind his ear, “Come, baby,” he whispers, voice thick with arousal, “Come for me, my beautiful, beautiful darling.”

Charles does, nearly screaming Erik’s name as his body shudders. It’s the best orgasm he’s ever had and he can’t believe it’s in Erik car in an abandoned alleyway. His body’s still shaking and he can feel his fingernails digging into Erik’s back and there’s probably going to be marks but he can’t bring himself to care. He’s on cloud fucking nine.

When his body calms down a bit he notices that Erik’s still hard, his thrust still coming in short, abrupt jerks, as if he’s trying to stop them. He probably is, Charles thinks, and that just won’t do. He shifts his body back and kisses Erik, slow and sensual, as his hand moves down to palm at Erik’s cock. Erik moans into his mouth and Charles moves his hand faster, feeling an odd sense of accomplishment each time Erik moans his name or thrusts up. Erik feels so _big_ and he moans into the kiss as he thinks about what it’d feel like inside of him. Better than anything he’d tried, Charles guessed.

It’s not long before Erik comes, a loud groan leaving his mouth as his head arches against the car seat, exposing his neck to Charles. Charles watches it happen, watches as Erik shuts his eyes tight and as he thrusts up into Charles’ hand. He watches as Erik’s chest moves up and down as the man pants, trying to get his breathing back to normal.

It takes them a few minutes, but eventually they get their breathing under control, looking at each other and grinning once they do.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Charles says, his hands moving to play with the too long hair at the base of Erik’s neck. “And in a car, of all places.”

“Mmhm,” Erik agrees, eyes half closed, “Too bad we aren’t at home, I’d like to cuddle you and have a nap right now.”

“That does sound rather appealing,” Charles replies, cringing when he shifts his body. The mess in his pants is certainly not comfortable, “Think you can drive there without falling asleep?”

“I’m supposed to be taking you to lunch.”

“That can wait.”

Erik grins, giving him one last soft kiss and helping him back into his seat.

\---

“Pants are in the wash,” Erik says, walking over to the bed and crawling in behind Charles.

“Mm, thank you,” Charles turns so he’s facing Erik, resting his head on the other man’s chest.

Both men were wearing only sweatpants under the covers, relying on each other’s body heat to keep them warm. Erik wrapped his arms around Charles’ body, holding him close. Charles smiled up at him and snuggled further into the embrace.

It was ridiculous, he thought, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been so happy.

“Have a nap, darling,” Erik says, kissing Charles on the top of his head and pulling him impossibly closer.

\---

Unfortunately, Charles did have to return home at some stage. As much as Erik would have liked to keep the boy locked up in his apartment, he knew it wasn’t particle.

Erik leant over and kissed him gently, “Call if you need anything, baby. You’re always welcome to stay with me.”

Charles smiled and nodded, “I will.”

He stepped out of Erik’s car, dressed once again in Emma’s jeans and one of Erik’s overly large jumpers and still smiling from the time he had spent with him. He turned around and waved before walking up back to his family’s house.

As he walked up to his room, he saw his mother on the couch, a glass of some kind of liquor in her hand and his step-father walking from the house’s library to his study.

No one asked where he had been for two days. No one even acknowledged his presence.


	7. Birthdays, Balloons and Blowjobs (Part One)

_Not to sound incredibly pessimistic and arrogant and superior, but bloody fucking hell the stupidity of some people really is astounding._

Charles sighed angrily and hit send, hiding his phone under the desk as he pretended to listen to his teacher go on.

**Having a bad day, I take it?**

_People are so stupid._

_I can’t wait to leave._

**What’s happened?**

_Teenagers being idiots, that’s what happened._

_I don’t understand why they can’t just leave me alone._

**Are you in class?**

_Yeah, why?_

**I wanted to call you.**

_Lunch is in ten minutes, call me then._

**But there’s still ten minutes where you are going to be considerably pissed off and I won’t be able to try and sooth you.**

_You could try and sooth me via text._

**Not the same. You don’t get to hear my wonderful voice.**

_:(_

_I still won’t get to see your wonderful face._

**That was cute.**

_Of course it was. I am nothing if not cute._

**You really are.**

_It’s going to look weird if I start blushing in the middle of class._

**What class are you in?**

_English._

_The teacher’s been going on about imagery for the past fifteen minutes. She’s talking to us as if we were ten._

**I send my most sincere apologies.**

_No you don’t._

**No, I don’t.**

_Disliking you at an extreme level._

**I don’t know how I’ll go on.**

_Idiot. What are you doing?_

**I was writing but I decided to take a break a little while ago.**

_Have you eaten?_

**I just finished.**

**Are you worried about me, Charles?**

_No._

**I think you are.**

_A little._

_You seem to be the type of person who doesn’t eat when working._

Charles hit send as the bell rung signalling the end up class. He quickly packed his things away and fled from the room, going to the quiet spot behind the library building he preferred.

**I am, but I forgot to eat breakfast.**

**Can I call yet?**

_Please._

Not thirty seconds later Erik’s name came up on Charles’ phone. Smiling faintly, he answered and leant against the wall of the building.

“Erik,” he breathed into the phone, dropping his bag down next to him.

“Hello, darling.”

Charles’ smile increased as he let the other man’s voice wash over him.               

He sat down carefully on the slab of concrete and rested his back against the building. “You’re right, you know.”

“About?”

“Your voice being soothing. I already feel better.”

“Still have to tell me what happened,” Erik paused, “If you want to, I mean,” he added slightly awkwardly.

Charles sighed, “Just teenage boys being idiots. Nothing major, I assure you.”

“Teenage boys being idiots can result in something major, I’d know.”

“Would you?” Charles asked, mildly surprised.

Erik hummed, “Back in the old days,” Erik started, and Charles laughed slightly, “People were even more closed-minded and the kids at my school didn’t really take it very well when they found out I was gay.”

“How’d they find out?”

“I didn’t really talk to many people my age when I lived in Germany, so I don’t know. I’m pretty sure it was just one of those things they made up to annoy me but I never denied it.”

“What’d they do?”

“All sorts of things. I remember when I was sixteen I got into a fight with one of the _cool_ guys and ended up almost getting him hospitalised. They left me alone after that.”

“It’s a wonder why,” Charles replied, his tone sarcastic. “I feel like I should be surprised you nearly hospitalised a guy but I‘m really not.”

Erik laughed, “When I really think about it, I can so understand why people think I’m so violent.”

“Only figuring it out now?”

“I’ve probably figured it out a few times prior to this,” Erik paused. “It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“Erik, nothing I know about you bothers me.”

“You will tell me if there is something though, right?”

Charles grinned, “I think it’ll be rather obvious when something annoys me.”

“Good to know.”

“Mmhm.”

“How long is your break?”

“Fifty minutes.”

“Do you have anyone to sit with?”

“Nope,” Charles said, picking up a rock near him and throwing it. “It doesn’t really bother me. I mean, it probably should but I’m that used to being alone I don’t care all that much.”

“Don’t Alex and Sean go to school with you?”

“No, but they like to think they know everyone that goes here. See, my stepfather didn’t want to spend too much money on my education but he couldn’t really send me to a,” Charles paused, “Less than ideal school. Bad publicity or something equally idiotic.”

“Ah.”

“Yep.”

“Have I mentioned I’d like to punch your stepfather in the face?”

Charles laughed, “I think you want to do a bit more than that.”

“Guilty as charged,”

“Can I join in?”

“Of course,” Erik stated, and Charles could hear the smile in his voice.

“Good. It’s only okay if I help.”

Erik laughed and Charles could hear him moving around, “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Listening to my stepfather scream about _idiotic wills_ and _ungrateful children_ and _unworthy and irritating stepsons_ probably. Why?”

“I was going to say I’d pick you up and you could stay with me but you’ve already got plans and they sound _really fun_ so I think I’ll leave you to it.”

“No, no,” Charles exclaimed, smiling, “I’d _much_ rather spend it with you.”

“Are you sure?” Erik asked playfully, “Because screaming stepparents sounds like a great time.”

“Yes,” Charles lowered his voice. “But if I stayed with you, we could do our own kind of screaming.”

Charles heard Erik swallow on the other end of the phone. “On second thought, darling, I will be coming to get you tomorrow.”

Charles let out a giggle, “You can protect me from screaming families.”

“Definitely,” Erik agreed. “I’ll keep you hidden in my apartment and take care of you.”

“My knight in shining armour.”

“Yes,” Erik exclaimed, and Charles thought he sounded excited. “I could so rock the armour look, you know.”

“If you say so, Lehnsherr.”

“You doubt me?”

“Never.”

“You can’t see, Charles, but I’m pouting right now.”

“I bet you look adorable.”

“I do,” Erik said, and Charles laughed because he sounded entirely too serious.

“You know, if you want, you can have me all to yourself for the entire weekend. I’ve worked all week so I could take the weekend off and Raven said she won’t be able fly over until Christmas; which means there is no demand for my presence.”

“Yes,” Erik half yelled almost before Charles had finished. “Sorry, I mea-“

“Shut it, Lehnsherr. I like knowing you want me around.”

“I want you around a lot, actually,” Charles could hear the smile in his voice. “Maybe pack a bag or something this time though.”

“Might be a good idea. I don’t really want to wear Emma’s clothes again.”

“But you looked so cute.”

Charles rolled his eyes, “I looked ridiculous.”

“Hardly,” Erik replied and paused, “You know, I don’t understand how Emma manages to run the café with such a small staff.”

“That’s what I said. But apparently she’s looking to hire more people.”

“Hopefully the new person doesn’t try to take you away from me.”

“Please, Erik, I only just got you. I don’t plan on being taken away any time soon.”

“Good,” Erik paused, “I’d have to show them my violent side.”

Charles laughed again, “Your possessive side is showing,” he paused. “Again.”

“I would apologise, but I know you like it.”

“I do,” Charles bit his lip. “I really do.”

\---

Charles grinned at Erik when he got in his car the next day, throwing his bags in the back seat.

“Hello, my darling,”

Charles leant over the middle of the car and, still smiling, kissed Erik chastely, “Hello.”

Erik reached a hand up and cupped Charles’ face, pulling him closer and kissing him again, nipping at the younger man’s lower lip before pulling back. “Maybe we should wait until we get home this time?”

Charles pouted but leaned back in his seat and put his seatbelt on, “Fine.”

Erik chuckled and drove off, “Good day?”

“The entire week’s been horrible, but it’s good now that I’m with you.”

Erik grinned at him, “Glad I have that effect on you.”

\---

The door of Erik’s apartment was barely shut when Charles felt himself pushed up against the nearest wall, Erik attacking his mouth.  Charles’ arms came up to wind around his neck, moaning into the kiss when Erik’s hands found their way to his arse.

“Please, Erik,” Charles breathed against his skin, “ _Please._ ”

Charles really didn’t care that he was being desperate and clingy, he’d had a week from hell and all he wanted in that moment was Erik, in any and every way he can have him.  His desperation only got worse when Erik leant down to start kissing along his neck, hands palming the boy’s arse. It took mere minutes for Charles to get fully hard, squirming in Erik’s grasp in an attempt to rub himself against Erik’s body.

Erik chuckled, low and sensual, and whispered into Charles’ ear, “Always so eager.”

Charles’ body arched up into Erik’s, “You have no idea.”

“What do you want, baby?” Erik asked, nipping at Charles’ skin. “What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know,” Charles whined out quietly as Erik’s leg pushed up against his erection, creating perfect friction. “Anything, Erik, I don’t care. Just _please._ ”

“How about this?” Erik whispered and dropped to his knees in front of Charles, looking up at the younger man and reaching to undo Charles’ pants.

“ _Yes_ ,” Charles felt himself get impossibly harder at the sight of Erik kneeling in front of him, mouth going dry, “Oh, fuck, yes. _Please_.”

Erik grinned, feral and animal like, before undoing the boy’s pants completely and pulling them down to pool around his ankles. Never loosing eye contact with Charles, he leaned in and kissed the inside of his thighs, hands resting on the waistline of his boxers.

Charles leant his head against the wall, eyes shut and breath heavy. “ _Erik,”_ he said, voice obviously impatient.

Erik grinned against the skin of his thigh, “Patience, darling.”

“Fuck patience.”

 _Alright then_ , Erik thought, and pulled the boxers Charles was wearing off, eyes widening as he took in the boy’s cock. Charles whined when he felt Erik kiss the head before starting to work down Charles’ cock, taking him in in a slow, rhythmic pace. Soon enough, Erik’s nose was buried in dark curls and Charles’s chest was heaving and his hands instantly moved to tangle in Erik’s hair. Erik was overwhelmed by the smell and taste of Charles, letting his eyes shut as his hands rest on Charles’ hips.

“Erik,” Charles moaned from above him, trying his best not to thrust into the warm heat of Erik’s mouth, “Holy _fuck_ , _Erik.”_

Encouraged, Erik opened his eyes, looking at the pained expression on the boy’s face as he began to suck, bobbing his head up and down Charles’ dick. Whimpers and moans and small, little puffs of pleasure left Charles mouth continuously, sending thrill after thrill through Erik’s body. Gripping his hips tightly, Erik increased his speed, moaning as he did. Charles moaned loudly, hands tightening in Erik’s hair and Erik could feel the boy trying to stop himself from thrusting into his mouth.

Almost unwillingly, Erik pulled back and smirked when Charles’ whined. “Fuck my mouth, darling,” he said, before taking Charles in his mouth once again. One of his hands left Charles and started palming at his own erection; eyes closing as his own body nearly shook with pleasure.

Charles whimpered and let himself thrust into Erik’s mouth, the hands on Erik’s head tightening their grip as he set the tempo. Erik moaned again, earning himself a loud swear out of Charles, and allowed the younger boy to use his mouth. He’d never been so turned on just from giving head before, his arousal growing each time Charles pushed his cock into his throat and every time Charles whimpered.

Charles moans got louder and his thrusts got more jerky, “Erik, I’m about, _fuck,_ I’m about to-“

Instead of pulling back, Erik opened his eyes and looked at Charles, sucking as hard as he could. Charles’ eyes where shut tight and he nearly screamed as he came, cock pulsing as he filled Erik’s mouth. Erik swallowed every drop and moaned around Charles as his own orgasm hit, body trembling as he sat back on his heels and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Once he’d gathered himself he looked back up at Charles, nearly moaning when he saw the boy. Charles was slumped against the wall, eyes shut and his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Erik kissed the inside of his thigh and pulled Charles’ boxers and pants back up, fixing them for him, before standing and kissing Charles slowly. Charles moaned into the kiss, moving his hands back to Erik’s head. Erik, Charles thought, tasted different and when it hit him that the taste was _him_ he moaned again, leaning off the wall and on Erik instead.

Erik smiled against Charles lips and pulled back, “Was that good?” he murmured, hands resting on the small of his back.

“Mmmhm,” Charles replied, forehead resting against Erik’s shoulder. “I would offer to repay the favour but I think I’m about to pass out.”

Erik chuckled and kissed the top of Charles’ head. “You’d have to wait a while, anyway.”

Charles opened his eyes and looked at Erik’s crouch, pulling away and looking at Erik in astonishment when he noticed the damp patch. “You mean you got off from-“

“Yup.”

“That is _so_ hot.”

Erik laughed and kissed Charles’ temple again. “It’s also very uncomfortable, so I’m going to let you collapse on the lounge while I get myself cleaned up. Okay?”

Charles nodded and let Erik half carry him over to the lounge, laying him down gently and kissing his cheek before walking off to the bathroom.

He returned a few minutes later, sitting down and manoeuvring his body so he was lying next to Charles on the couch, arms wrapped tightly around the boy, with a hand reaching up to pet his hair and Charles’ head tucked into his chest.

“That,” Charles mumbled, “Was exactly what I needed.”

Erik smiled, “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“More than enjoyed it,” Charles said drowsily, “I so see what the fuss is about now.”

Erik’s eyes widened, “You mean that was your first blowjob?”

“Mmhm.”

“And we did it against my apartment door,” Erik half laughed, half sighed, “I’m not really making your first experiences very romantic, am I?”

“No,” Charles laughed, “But they’ve all been perfect.”

“I’ll try harder next time, promise.”

“As long as they’re with you, I’ll be happy,” Charles mumbled against Erik’s skin before finally falling asleep in the older man’s arms.

They woke later and ordered food because Erik wasn’t really bothered to move from the couch to cook; they ate in a comfortable silence with horrible television playing in the background, both stealing things from the other’s plate. After, they both took showers and kissed a bit more and then went to bed; Charles, not bothered to stay up for his birthday, ended up falling asleep in Erik’s arms just after eleven.


	8. Birthdays, Balloons and Blowjobs (Part Two)

When Charles woke the morning of his eighteenth birthday, it was to an empty bed.

He rolled over and reached out, feeling the spot Erik had previously occupied. Cold.

He frowned to himself and got out of bed, picking up the jumper Erik had thrown on the floor the night before and putting it on before slowly making his way out of the bedroom and into the rest of the apartment.

The first thing he noticed was the noise, there was obviously someone moving around the kitchen.

The second was the smell; Charles mouth watered a bit as the smell of pancakes filled his nostrils.

The third was the ridiculous amount of balloons tied together near the kitchen bench.

The fourth was that there was a half-naked Erik running about the kitchen cooking, looking as if he was doing a million things at once.

He grinned at the sight and cleared his throat, “Erik?”

Erik jumped, spinning around to face him. “Charles!” he yelped, looking a bit alarmed, “I was hoping you would sleep in a bit more.”

Charles ignored him and instead asked “What are you doing?”

Erik sighed and checked his cooking, “This was supposed to be breakfast in bed, Charles.”

Charles came up behind Erik, looking over his shoulder at the pancakes he was cooking, “They smell and look delicious.”

“Go back to bed.”

Charles rested his face against Erik’s bare back, wrapping his arms around the other man’s waist. “Only if you come with me,” he said, placing a soft kiss to Erik’s back.

“I have to finish this first.”

“Then I’ll stay and watch,” Charles said, smiling, “You cooking shirtless isn’t a bad sight.”

Charles reluctantly let go of Erik, watching as he added the cooked pancakes to a rather large stack on the kitchen counter. Erik turned the stove off and left the pan he’d been using on top of it before walking over to where Charles was. Gently, he reached up and placed his hands of either side of his face, leaning down to kiss him gently. Charles smiled against Erik’s lips, hands moving to loosely wrap around Erik’s torso again.

Pulling back slightly, Erik rested his forehead against Charles’, “Happy birthday, darling.”

Charles grinned and kissed him chastely, “Thank you.”

“Now,” Erik started, moving around the kitchen again, “I have made breakfast, a very nice breakfast, mind you, and it was _supposed_ to be a slightly romantic breakfast in bed but because you couldn’t cooperate with me and sleep in just a little while longer, it has to be a less romantic, breakfast in the _kitchen.”_ The way kitchen was said made it sound as if it was the most ridiculous idea in the world for someone to eat in a kitchen. “Close your eyes while I set everything out.”

Charles rolled his eyes but complied, shutting his eyes tight and feeling slightly ridiculous, “To be fair, we could still have breakfast in bed.”

“The mood would be wrong.”

“The mood?” Charles asked, slowly, as he tried not to laugh.

“Yes,” Erik replied, voice entirely serious as he placed things on benches and packed things away. “I want this to be perfect.”

“Erik, for my last birthday, I woke up, skipped breakfast and then had to go to school and be around people I don’t even like; only to come home and be yelled at. I assure you, love, whatever you do for me today _will_ be perfect.”

Erik was silent for a moment, “You called me love.”

“Yes.”

“That’s horribly English of you.”

Charles giggled, “Can I open my eyes yet?”

Erik went over to Charles, kissing him one more time before stepping away, “Now you can.”

The kitchen bench was covered in various plates filled with delicious looking fresh fruit; next to which were even more delicious looking chocolate chip pancakes that Charles _really_ wanted to eat because he couldn’t remember the last time he had had pancakes, especially _chocolate chip pancakes._ There was tea and juice and Charles beamed up at Erik, not remembering the last time someone who wasn’t Raven did something like this for him.

Erik kissed his temple. “Eat before it gets cold.”

\---

“It’s a lot of balloons.”

“I know.”

“What am I supposed to do with them?”

Erik grinned, “I don’t know.”

Charles looked up at him, “Did you get them?”

“Nope.”

Charles brow furrowed, “Then who did?”

“Look at the card.”

Charles crouched down and picked up the card at the bottom of the balloons, noticing that there was a small package next to it. Charles opened the rather pretty card to see Emma’s handwriting first, saying _Happy 18 th birthday, sugar. Everyone wishes you a wonderful day. Make sure to open (and enjoy) the package. _Both Sean and Alex had written messages in it, too, wishing him a happy birthday in the odd way they did things.

“I have a bad feeling about the package,” Erik said from behind him.

“I’m sure it’s nothing bad.”

“Emma isn’t known to be the best present giver.”

“How about I open it, then,” Charles said, sitting cross-legged where he was and leaning on Erik when the older man crouched down next to him. He picked up the present, tearing carefully at the plain wrapping to reveal what Emma had got him.

Charles blushed furiously, half groaning, half laughing. Erik did groan, accompanied by a muttered _the bitch._

“Of course Emma would get you condoms and lube for your birthday.”

Charles laughed, “Probably should have seen it coming.”

“There’s a note,” Erik stated, reaching out to pick it up and unfold the piece of paper. He rolled his eyes at the message.

_I’m sure Erik is well supplied, but just to make sure. Have fun and make sure to put these to good use, sugar._

Erik sighed and kissed Charles on his temple, getting a smile out of the younger man. “Ignore her, she likes making things awkward.”

Charles looked up at him and smiled, still blushing, “To be fair, it’s not exactly a useless present.”

Erik’s eyes widened, “You mean…?”

“Maybe,” he said and winked at Erik, standing up to throw away the wrapping paper.

Erik nearly chocked.

\---

Charles’ had requested that they do nothing for a little bit, claiming that he had always had to go to school on his birthday and it was just nice to be able to spend it with someone he actually liked. Erik, of course, complied and as a result they were sitting on the floor of Erik’s sitting room; Erik with his back leaning against his lounge and Charles with his head in Erik lap, body sprawled out comfortably.

“I’ve never asked, but how do you have the British accent?” Erik asked, hand running through Charles’ hair.

“I spent a lot of time in England with my father when I was little,” Charles said, smiling. “I developed the accent and I’ve never been able to get rid of it.”

“It’s adorable.”

“You think everything about me is adorable.”

“Most things are.”

Charles raised an eyebrow, “ _Most_ things?”

“The other things are just erotic.”

Charles blushed, “Good choice of words.”

“I thought so,” Erik said, grinning.

Charles leaned further into Erik’s touch, “One might say you have a way with words.”

“Well,” Erik started, “I’d like to think so, considering the choice of occupation.”

Charles grinned at him, “Could be potentially problematic if you didn’t.”

Erik opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by Charles’ phone ringing.

“Uh oh,” Charles said, sitting up and pulling out his phone.

“What?”

“It’s my sister.”

“You like your sister.”

“Yes, but if she finds out about you she’ll make a big deal about _everything.”_

“I’ll be quiet, if you want.”

Charles nodded and answered the call on the last ring, “Hello, Raven!”

“Charles!” she exclaimed, the smile in her voice evident, “Happy birthday, little brother.”

Charles grinned, “Thank you.”

“You’re finally a man.”

“Yes, _finally,”_ Charles replied, “My eighteen year old dream has finally come true.”

He could practically hear the roll of eyes, “How’s your day been so far?”

“Wonderful,” he said, truthfully, “I haven’t done a single thing.”

“They’re not giving you too much trouble, are they?” Raven asked.

“Nope. I’m not at home.”

“Where are you then?”

“A friend’s house.”

“Friend?” Charles almost cringed at how surprised she sounded.

“Yes.”

“You don’t have friends.”

“Actually, I _do_ have friends.”

“Since when?”

“Since always.”

“What friend, then?” Raven asked, and Charles could almost see her standing in front of him with a hand on her hip.

“You don’t know him.”

“ _Him_?” Raven said, excitedly.

“Yes, him,” Charles rolled his eyes, “The last time I checked he was a male.”

“Is it a boyfriend?”

“No,” Charles replied, a little too quickly.

“It is, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice rising in excitement. “Do you have a boyfriend, Charles?” she said his name in a sing song voice and Charles rolled his eyes again.

“No, I don’t have a boyf-“ Charles heard the distinct sound of a male groan in the background and stopped talking, eyes going wide. “Raven, what was that?”

“Nothing,” Raven replied, instantly.

“Do _you_ have a boyfriend?”

“Nope.”

Charles heard moving on the other end, “You so do.”

“I don’t.”

“I can hear him, Raven.”

“What you’re hearing is me.”

“I’m hearing someone of a male origin, so unless you have something to tell me, I doubt it’s you.”

“It’s no one.”

“Tell me,” Charles said, leaning forward slightly and smiling, “You’ve left me all alone on my birthday, this can be my present.”

Raven sighed, and Charles heard someone start the shower. “Why is me having a boyfriend a birthday present to you?”

“So you do have one?”

“Yes.”

Charles grinned and grabbed Erik’s hand, interlocking their fingers. “What’s his name?”

“Not telling.”

“Oh, come on. You can tell me his name.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Azazel.”

“Azazel?”

“Yup.”

“Odd name.”

“He’s Russian.”

“Really?”

“Yup.”

“I didn’t picture you with a Russian boyfriend,” Charles said, head tilted to the side.

Raven huffed out a laugh, “Neither did I.”

“Is it serious?”

“…”

“Raven.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe isn’t an answer.”

The line was silent as Raven paused, “Yes.”

“How long?”

“Nearly six months.”

“NEARLY SIX MONTHS?”

“Shit,” Raven breathed into the phone, “Yes. Nearly six months.”

“How come you didn’t tell me?”

“Didn’t wanna jinx it.”

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me,” Charles said, ignoring the look Erik was giving him

“You know now.”

“When do I get to meet him?” Charles asked, “He needs to pass the big brother test.”

“You are both younger and smaller than me, Charles.”

“Then he needs to pass the younger brother test.”

Raven laughed, “He has family in New York that he’s visiting for Christmas so maybe then.”

“I’m going to embarrass you so badly.”

“Please, Charles, I do that enough by myself.”

Charles laughed and they spoke on the phone for a few more minutes before Raven had to go, claiming that she would see him soon and give him his present then.

Once he made sure the phone was actually hung up, Charles looked up at Erik, “Yes, I know I’m a hypocrite. But within reason.”

Erik smiled, “You could have told her, if you wanted to.”

Charles shook his head, “I’ll do it next time I see her.”

“Does that mean,” Erik started, pushing Charles gently so he was lying down and then leaning over him, “That we’ll still be together in December?”

Charles bit his lip, “Fuck, I hope so,” he breathed, lifting his head up so his face was closer to Erik’s.

Erik grinned at him, closing the gap and kissing him hard.

\---

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I did.”

“No.”

“We’ve been close friends long enough for it to be expected that I get you something,” Erik started, “Being your boyfriend means I have to.”

Charles grinned, “Is that like some king of unwritten rule?”

“Yep.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“It isn’t even a good present, anyway. There wasn’t enough notice for me to get you something amazing. Wait until your next birthday, Charles; I’ll blow you away with my gift buying abilities.”

Charles smiled, “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“Open the present, darling.”

Charlies rolled his eyes fondly and picked up the beautifully wrapped present. It was rectangular and kind of heavy, a book, probably a stack of them considering the thickness of the gift. Carefully, he ripped open the wrapping, eyes widening and a grin taking over his face when he noticed what the books were about. There were four books in total, each one on the topic of human genetics, specifically mutation.

Hand running over the hard cover of the top book, Charles looked over at Erik, “How did you know?”

“About a month after we first met you told me you that’s what you wanted the study,” Erik was fiddling with his hands, looking kind of nervous, “You got so excited when you started talking about mutations.”

He hadn’t though Erik would remember that, especially because it was a while ago now. Still smiling, he leaned over and kissed Erik slowly. “Thank you,” he muttered, face still close to Erik.

“So you like them?”

“Yes,” Charles huffed out a laugh, “Very much, Erik. Thank you.”        

Erik grinned and kissed Charles again.

\---

He was on a bed and Erik was on top of him.

_He was on a bed and Erik was on top of him._

Charles let out a long breath and reached up to grab Erik’s face to kiss him, hard and needy. Erik smiled against his mouth but slowed the kiss down, hands moving under Charles’ shirt and ghosting over his sides.

“Slowly, darling,” Erik muttered, placing light kisses to the side of Charles’ lips.

Charles whined quietly, arching his body closer to Erik’s, “I don’t want to wait.”

Erik grinned, placing a trail of kisses down Charles’ jaw and neck, “There’s time,” he murmured, teeth grazing Charles’ pulse point. “I’m supposed to try and make these encounters more romantic, remember?”

“No.”

Erik laughed and lifted his head, looking down at the boy beneath him, “You’ll enjoy this,” he whispered, leaning forward again and fluttering kisses over Charles face. “Your enthusiasm,” he kissed over Charles’ right cheekbone, “Is very flattering,” he dragged his mouth to the left side of Charles’ jaw, “But trust me, my darling.” Erik trailed his kisses to Charles’ mouth, “I’ll make this good for you,” he breathed, finally kissing him.

Charles sighed into the kiss, his hands reaching up and tangling in Erik’s hair. It lasted a few moments before they had to pull back for air, Charles sitting up slightly and grabbing Erik’s hands that were on his hips and helping the man to pull off his shirt. Erik leant down and kissed him again, slowly and adoring, as if they had all the time in the world to do it. Charles reached down and began to undo the buttons on Erik’s shirt, moaning as Erik ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth.

Erik stopped kissing him and helped Charles push his shirt completely off, throwing it out of the way. Resting his forehead against Erik’s, Charles beamed and let his hands run over the other man’s body. Arching his neck back when Erik leant down to attack it again, biting and sucking and licking until Charles was positive his neck would be completely covered in hickeys.

Whimpering, Charles slid his hands down Erik’s body, resting when they reached the top of his jeans. He kept his hands there for a second, as if waiting for permission, before he popped open the button of Erik’s jeans and pulled down the zipper. Charles moved his head so he was kissing Erik again as he lets his hands slip between the open fabric.

His hand was only lightly touching Erik, but still, the other man groaned quietly into the kiss. Erik kissed him harder and in return Charles wrapped his hand firmly around Erik. Although it’s through the layer of his underwear, Charles was still struck with how _big_ Erik felt in his hand.

Charles certainly did _not_ wonder how it would feel somewhere else.

Charles moved his hand but it was a bit of an effort, Erik’s trousers are too much of a constraint. “You need to take them off,” he said, grinning when Erik whined and pressed his hips forward instead. “Off,” he said, pulling his hand away, “That way I can get on top of you and try something.”

Erik stopped moving, “Try what?”

“You’ll see.”

Erik did end up taking them off, Charles’ too, and ended up with his back on the bed and Charles straddling him; two very thin layers of fabric separating them.

Charles pushed his hips down experimentally, moaning long and loud when Erik pushed up to meet him. Smiling, he looked down at the other man, “I know you want to make this about me,” he pressed his hips down again, “As a birthday thing, or something,” and again, “But I’m really excited to try this.”

“Are you going to tell me what you want to try?” Erik asked, voice thick with arousal.

Charles licked his lips and shook his head, moving down Erik’s body so he was straddling his calves. Smirking, he leant down, placing light kisses and licks to Erik’s abdomen.

“You’re,” Erik breathed, and Charles could see the movement from his chest, “You’re going to…”

Charles didn’t say anything, just hummed against Erik’s skin before pulling away a bit; lifting his hands to the hem of Erik’s boxers and slowly taking them off. He took a deep breath when he saw Erik, completely naked. The man was impressive, better than anyone Charles had ever seen. Erik was big, and Charles was slightly intimidated; he didn’t know if he was going to be any good at this.

He calmed a bit when he felt Erik run his fingers through his hair gently, “If at any point you want or need to stop, darling, do it. Okay?”

Charles nodded, and dragged his hand up the shaft, from base to head, before taking a deep breath and leaning his head forward again. Tentatively, he placed a kiss to the head of Erik’s cock, before slowly drawing it into his mouth and sucking gently. Erik swore softly above him, encouraging Charles to slowly take in more. Licking the underside of the shaft, he tried to remember what Erik had done to him. Erik groaned loudly and started muttering to himself quietly as Charles bobbed his head up and down, taking more and more in each time. Erik’s hips bucked up and Charles had to fight the urge to gag, moving his head up slightly.

“Fuck, sorry,” Erik panted, hand petting Charles’ hair again.

Charles held Erik’s hips down with one hand, humming slightly as his moved his head back down, taking almost all of Erik in. Charles moved his free hand to slowly pump the area exposed, moaning around Erik’s cock. Erik’s muttering got louder as he sucked harder, Charles letting out another moan when he realised Erik was muttering in _German._

And _fuck,_ Charles thought, he had never thought he would find German sexy.

Charles pushed down harder at Erik’s hips when they started to buck up again. Charles flicked his tongue against across the tip, moaning when he tasted Erik’s precome and felt Erik’s grip of his hair tightened, almost painfully. Charles looked up at Erik and ended up looking him dead in the eye; he moaned again, the sight of the other man going straight to his own cock.

Erik threw his head back and clenched his jaw, obviously trying to restrain himself from thrusting up and fucking Charles mouth. Both of Erik’s hands are holding Charles head tightly, assisting him as he bobbed his head up. Seeing the other man nearing his edge, Charles relaxed his tongue and opened his jaw as wide as he could, removing both of his hands from Erik’s body. Erik immediately pushed up into the heat of Charles’ mouth and used the hold he had on Charles’ head to guide him, ensuring that he didn’t take more than he can handle.

“I’m not going to last very long,” Erik said from above him, voice strained.

Charles hummed around him; this had been one of the things he had wanted to try. Erik swore again, quickening his speed and tugging at Charles’ hair again in warning. Charles didn’t stop though, just sucked harder and within seconds Erik moaned out his name, coming in hot squirts down Charles’ throat. Charles swallowed as much as he could, surprised at the taste, and pulled away, forcing Erik to let go of his head.

Sitting back up, Charles smiled at Erik and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, licking his hand clean when he noticed the come on it.

“Holy fuck, Charles,” Erik panted from his spot on the bed.

Charles grinned, “Was it good?”

“Was it-“ Erik cut himself off, sitting up and pulling Charles against him as he kissed the younger man. “It was bloody fantastic.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm, fucking fantastic” Erik hummed against his jaw, hand moving to Charles’ erection. “But I wanted to make this about you.”

Charles breathed out a moan as Erik’s hand pushed down against his cock.

“I can return the favour.”

Charles shook his head, “I won’t last.”

He felt Erik grin just before the older man moved his hand under his underwear, hand quickly and firmly wrapping around Charles’ cock. Charles thrust against him as Erik moved his hand, coming all over Erik’s hand within minutes, muffling his scream by biting down on Erik’s shoulder.

Erik placed a gentle kiss to the Charles jaw, pulling his hand out and towards his mouth before licking up Charles’ come, smirking as Charles’ eyes widened.

\---

“Thank you,” Charles murmured against Erik’s skin, smiling.

They were settled in Erik’s bed now, both still naked, but comfortably intertwined with  each other.

“For?”

Charles rolled his eyes, “Today, idiot. That’s the most fun I’ve had on my birthday in a while.”

Erik grinned against his shoulder, “Glad I could assist, darling.”

“And who knew you forgot English when turned on.”

Erik laughed, “You liked that, then?”

Charles hummed his agreement, “I love it when you speak German.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm. Kind of a turn on.”

“Well, then, liebling,” Erik placed a kiss to Charles’ shoulder and tightened his grip, “I’ll have to do it more often.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a bit rushed but I wanted to give you guys an update, I hope you all liked it! :)
> 
> I’ve noticed that AO3 sometimes deletes lines of the chapters when I update them and it’s really confusing. It’s usually in text messages or conservations, like if someone has a one word line for some reason it sometimes gets deleted. So I apologise if that happened here and anyone got confused, I swear it’s not my fault!


	9. Fresh Meat

The rest of November had passed quickly and peacefully, as did the first two weeks of December. Charles could honestly admit that he was the happiest he had been in a very, very long time.

"I'm going to be late."                                                                       

"Don't worry about it."

"Erik."

"Tell Emma we were having hot, rough, wildly kinky sex. She won't mind after that."

Charles rolled his eyes and Erik laughed.

"I'm serious, you know," he continued, "She won't care if you tell her the reason you're late was because you woke up with my mouth around your cock."

Charles hated himself for blushing, "You put it so eloquently."

Erik grinned, "And then, of course, you had _insisted_ on returning the favour so now we're late."

"Don't make out as if this is my fault. You started it."

"Yes, well, you didn't have to join me in the shower. _That_ is the reason you're probably going to be late."

Charles huffed a laugh, "Just drive, Erik. With any luck I won't be."

"I didn't think the snow would be this bad."

"And I didn't think the shower would take that long."

They fell into a comfortable silence as Erik drove the rest of the way to the café, somehow getting there a few minutes before Charles’ shift started.

"I'll come back in a bit, darling. I need to do some shopping."

"Alright," Charles replied, unbuckling his seatbelt and leaning over to kiss Erik chastely on the lips, "I'll see you then."

\---

Charles ran from the car into the café, almost yelling in triumph when he noticed he had got there just as his shift was supposed to start.

"I'm here!" he called out when he saw Emma, getting behind the counter and panting slightly. "I'm here. The snow got in the way and it took longer than I thought it would, but I got here on time."

"Well done, sugar," Emma laughed at him. "I have a special job for you."

"Oh?"

“You have to train one of the new employees. His name’s Logan, he’s twenty-two and he’s going to be here in about fifteen minutes. He’ll be working up front mostly so I want you to show him how everything works.”

Charles nodded and smiled, “Okay,”

\---

Logan was not what Charles expected. He looked like he belonged more in a fast food joint than a café.

He was nice enough, though, and warmed up to everyone after a bit, including Charles.

 _Especially_ Charles.

It had made him slightly uncomfortable, if he was honest. The man got too close to him sometimes, not dissimilar to the way Erik had when they had first met.

Logan had stood too close to him when he was showing him how to properly work the machines and had stared at him too long when they first met, his attraction obvious. Charles had caught him staring a few time after that, too, and had noticed the man attempting to show off a little bit.

Charles had just moved away from his advances, too nice to actually say something. He'd walk in to work with his neck covered in hickeys again sooner or later. Logan would get the point.

If not, Erik would surely do _something_ that would discourage the new guy.

\---

“How long you been working here, bub?”

Charles turned towards Logan as he handed their last customer their drink, “Almost five months now.”

Logan leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest so his biceps looked bigger, “Long time.”

Charles smiled and shrugged, “I like it here.”

“Anything interesting or weird happen?”

“Depends on the day,” Alex said, coming over and standing with them. It was the time were the café got pretty empty and they could afford to slack off a bit.

“We get some weird customers sometimes.”

“Sometimes, Charles? We get odd customers every day.”

“If you mean Lehnsherr-”

“He’s a weirdo, Charles,” Alex replied, jumping up and sitting on the counter. “He’s brainwashed you into thinking otherwise. You should have followed the rules.”

Charles bit his tongue, stopping himself from saying anything too harsh. It was starting to annoy him more and more whenever someone said something bad about Erik. The man was wonderful, there was nothing bloody wrong with him.

“Who’s Lehnsherr?” Logan’s gruff voice cut in.

“A regular customer and an old friend of Emma’s.”

“He’s this guy that comes nearly every day. Creepy, serial killer kind of vibe. Took a liking to Charles.”

“ _Alex.”_

Alex ignored him and continued, “Which is understandable, Charles in young a pretty and people reckon he’s got a liking for the young ones.”

“Erik isn’t a pervert, Alex.”

“Other people reckon he’s a serial killer or assassin or something. Some think he’s just a creep who eats his neighbours’ animals.”

“And some people,” Charles said through gritted teeth, “Think he’s a perfectly fine, nice guy and believe you all need to stop with the idiotic rumours.”

“Where’s the fun in that, Charles?”

“There isn’t supposed to be any fun in it,” Charles rolled his eyes. “Maybe the reason he acts like he does is because everyone seems to think he’s some type of perverted criminal.”

“He could be, Charles. You don’t know!”

Charles turned and looked Logan in the eye, “He isn’t. The other employees just find him scary.”

“I do not find him scary!” Alex exclaimed, looking appalled.

“Look!” Charles made a big show of pointing to the door, “He’s coming now.”

Alex jumped down from the counter and stood behind Charles, almost hiding, as he looked to see where Lehnsherr was. Only to discover he wasn’t there.

“Charles!”

Charles laughed, “But I thought you weren’t scared of him?”

Alex glared at him and grabbed the cleaning supplies before stalking off.

“Why are they scared of him?” Logan asked, still looking intently at Charles.

Charles sighed, “Guess you’ll see when you meet him.” Charles shook his head and smiled at Logan again, “To properly answer your earlier question, the most interesting thing to happen here is usually Alex and Scott fighting. You’ll understand when you get to see it happen. Incredibly entertaining but not so good for business.”

“Sibling rivalry?”

Charles hummed in agreement, “The other fun thing, sometimes, anyway, is the reaction you get from Alex and Sean when Erik walks in.”

“Erik?”

“Lehnsherr,” Charles clarified. “You haven’t seen it yet, but there’s an entirely second set of rules that revolve around him. They’re kinda ridiculous, though. They’re like, ‘don’t go near Lehnsherr alone’ and ‘don’t spend more time with Lehnsherr than necessary’. I kind of ignored them all and now people think I’m in some type of danger.”

“Think I’ll be able to meet this weirdo today, then?”

Charles bit his tongue again, _Erik wasn’t weird._ “You should. He usually comes in on Sundays around this time.”

Logan nodded and they began to talk about other things. It was mostly Logan asking about the staff and the Café and Charles answering all his questions. They talked about other things, too, more personal stuff but nothing too deep. Nothing Charles hadn’t already told a few people.

Logan had stood in his personal space for most of the conversation and Charles ended up pressed against the counter so he didn’t have to stand _too_ close to the other man.

\---

**Got caught up a little, but I’ll drop by soon, liebling.**

Charles smiled at the text _, Good. I want to take my break soon._

**Maybe I can sneak you into the car and we can have a little make out session.**

_I would say yes, but it wouldn’t be ‘little’ and I don’t feel like finishing my shift in sticky underwear_ **.**

**They wouldn’t be sticky if I used my mouth.**

Charles blushed and quickly typed out his reply, putting his phone back in his pocket and going back to work. _Goodbye, Erik._

\---

Charles finished drying his hands and walked out of the bathroom, eyes widening when he spotted the familiar figure at the counter.

The familiar figure talking to Logan.

That probably wasn’t good.

He quickly made his way towards the two, grimacing when Logan spotted him first.

“Says he’s looking for you, bub,” Logan said, eyes trailing over Charles’ body again. It didn’t pass Erik’s notice.

“ _Bub?”_ Erik asked, voice low as an eyebrow raised.

Definitely not good, Charles thought.

“Yeah, _bub,_ ” Logan replied, looking back as Erik “Who are you, anyway?”

Erik grinned, all of his teeth showing, and turned to Charles, “He doesn’t know?”

Charles couldn’t help but smile slightly back, “Sort of. Not all of it though, this is Logan’s first day.”

“Emma must be desperate, then.”

Charles gave him a pointed look and Logan opened his mouth to say something when Emma came up to them.

“Just when I thought you started being nice to the new employees, Erik,” she said, winking at Charles.

“Old habits die hard,” Erik deadpanned as he leant over and gave her a kiss on the cheek,

Emma smiled, “Are you going to buy anything, sugar, or are you just here to use the Wi-Fi and terrorise our staff?”

 Erik rolled his eyes, “I don’t terrorise anyone.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re featured in Sean’s nightmares,” Charles stated, leaning against the counter.

“What a shame,” Erik smirked at the younger man, “I was rather hoping I’d appear in your dreams first.”

Charles felt his face and neck heat up; he opened his mouth to reply buy nothing came out.

“See what I meant about terrorising the staff?”

Erik chuckled, still looking at Charles. “I’d be terrorising him if he didn’t like it,” he paused and Charles felt his skin get even warmer, “And can I please have coffee? You know my order.”

“Smartarse,” Charles mumbled under his breath as he turned to make the order and his own drink, he’d probably be going on his break now that Erik was here.

“Now, Logan,” he heard Emma say, “To answer your earlier question, this man is the infamous Lehnsherr I’m sure you’ve already heard about.”

“So you’re the creep,” Logan stated in his gruff voice.

“The boys like to overdo things.”

“Yes,” Charles could feel Erik’s grin as he heard him say, “I believe I’m a perverted serial killer that likes to eat animals at the moment.”

Charles snorted from where he was, “Soon it’ll out that you’re a cannibal.”

“Well,” Erik smirked at Charles when he turned to bring him his order, “I can’t deny that I like to bite.”

 _Don’t I know it._ “You’re not helping,” he said as he passed the hot drink towards Erik.

Erik shrugged but smiled, “Thank you, liebling.”

Charles smiled at the term.

Erik turned back to Emma, “Don’t you think your golden boy needs a break? Surely the new one can handle a near empty café.”

Emma rolled her eyes and looked at Charles, “Take a break, sugar; I believe your presence is required.”

Charles grinned and undid his apron while Emma walked off to do whatever it was that she did. He walked to the other side of the counter and Erik immediately stood in his personal space, hand moving up to rest between his shoulder blades.

A rush of freezing cold air came in just as Erik was about to pull Charles away to their spot at the back, and Charles turned to see a large group of teenagers and twenty year olds walk into the café.

“You’re leaving me alone to deal with them?” Logan asked, eyes darting between Charles and the large group walking towards the counter.

Charles bit his lip, looking at Erik briefly before turning back to Logan, “I have to. Call Alex for help, if you need it. I’ve taught you how to use everything and it’s good practice, we can get pretty busy.”

Erik smirked at Logan, “You’re a big boy. You can take care of yourself.”

\---

They sat down closely next to each other, back to the counter and the rest of the café and bodies pressed against each other as much as they could be.

“Emma hired, then.”

“Yup.”

“I don’t like him.”

Charles sighed, “There’s nothing wrong with Logan, Erik.”

“He shouldn’t be working in a café. He doesn’t look the part.”

“I’m sure he can work wherever he wants,” Charles took a sip of his tea and placed it on the table.

“Who does he think he is calling you bub? You’re not _his_ _bub,_ you’re mine.”

Charles couldn’t help a small smile at that, “But he doesn’t know that. And it’s not just me, he calls everyone bub.”

Erik frowned at him, “Are you defending him?”

“No, it’s just that he’s a nice guy so far. I’m sure he’s not going to try anything. You have nothing to worry about, Erik.”

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

 _Neither do I._ Charles sighed, “How does he look at me?”

“The way I did when I first saw you. As if he wants nothing more than to bend you over the counter and fuck the liv-“

“ _Shut up_ ,” Charles cut him off, blushing, “That is not how you looked at me and it’s not how Logan looks at me.”

“It was, and it is.”

Charles glared at the other man, “It’s good to know that’s all you want from me, then.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Erik replied quickly, eyes widening. “It was how I used to look at you. _Used to._ ”

“So now you don’t want to sleep with me?” Charles asked, eyebrows rising as he crossed his arms.

“No, of course I do, liebling,“ Erik paused and smiled at Charles, “But I also want to cuddle and kiss you after and pet your hair until you fall asleep all curled around me and then I want to wake up next to you the morning after and spend the day with you doing absolutely nothing because just _being_ with you makes me happy.”

“Asshole,” Charles mumbled and blushed very faintly, biting his lip to stop from smiling.

Erik’s grin broadened, “He just looks at you like he wants to drag you into a bathroom and have a quickie and then never speak to you again.”

Charles blushed and huffed a laugh, “I’ll admit he looks at me in a,” he paused, trying to find the right words, “Not entirely innocent way, but I don’t think _that_ is the way Logan’s been looking at me.”

“It is.”

“I think I would have noticed.”   

“You didn’t notice when it was me,” Erik said, leaning back in his chair, “Everyone else did, that’s why they were so worried, I think. And it’s like that now; I’m noticing that he is looking at you like he wants to take away very bit of innocence left in you and I am worried.” Erik paused, “Well, maybe more pissed off than worried. Your innocence is mine to take away.”

Charles laughed and leaned back into Erik’s body, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Maybe.”

“You have nothing to worry about, anyway,” Charles said, smiling. “He can look all he wants. You’re the only person who gets to touch.”

“Good,” Erik smiled back, “I’d prefer it if he didn’t look, though.”

“Mmhm,” Charles replied, “Can’t really help that, though.”

“Well, I could.”

“No getting into fights.”

He felt Erik’s body shake slightly with laughter, “Not all my plans are violent.”

Charles hummed and picked his tea back up, “I like this spot.”

“Where we’re sitting?” Charles nodded, “So do I, no one can see us.”

“Not only that,” Charles said, “It’s warm and cosy. I feel like I could fall asleep.”

Erik wrapped his arm over the younger man’s shoulders, pulling him closer, “Too bad you only get a short break.”

“I finish soon, so it’s alright. I’ll sleep when I get home.”

“How long until you go on winter holidays?”

“The end of next week,” Charles sighed, “Can’t come quick enough.”

Erik grinned, “Will I get to see you often or will you be busy with your sister the entire time?”

“You’ll get me to yourself for the new year, but before then I’m afraid you won’t see much of me,” Charles replied and  tilted his head backwards to look towards Erik, “I’ll most probably be with Raven for Christmas but her and Azazel are going to stay somewhere with a few of their friends from the twenty ninth to whenever.” Charles paused for a moment, “Unless you want to meet her?”

Erik smiled softly at him, “I don’t mind. It looks like she means a lot to you so if you want me to, I will.”

Charles worried his bottom lip, “I want you to because her approval means a lot to me but I’m scared she’s going to freak out about the age difference. We’ve been talking a lot the past couple weeks and she knows I’m happier than I have been in a while and she thinks it’s because there’s a boy, so it won’t be hard telling her I have a boyfriend, it’s just that telling her who will be the hard part.”

“We could set a date to meet and you could tell her a few days before that, let her know a bit about me or whatever,” Erik said softly, “And then if she isn’t too pissed off and still wants to meet me then we can go.”

Charles took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he nodded, “I’ll probably do that.”

Erik’s thumb moved in slow, calming circles against Charles’ arm, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, darling. Like you said, she knows you’re happy at the moment. Your happiness should be everybody’s priority.”

Charles giggled, “Everyone’s?”

Erik hummed in agreement, “The purpose of life is to make one Charles Xavier happy,” Erik stated and leant down, placing a quick, soft kiss to the spot just behind Charles ear.

Charles giggled again grinned at Erik, “As it should be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped you guys liked it, I'm going to try and write the next update quicker, so it should be up soon.
> 
> Anyway, I found this edit the other day and went all fuzzy because it reminded me of the Charles and Erik in this so i wanted to share it with you. http://37.media.tumblr.com/2cd82f56b5c47c26e1adc499c7a88b96/tumblr_mvc5d29ISr1rxm9ewo4_400.jpg


	10. The Plan

Charles smiled to himself and he noticed the familiar black car waiting for him near his school. It was officially the winter holidays and he had three days until Raven flew in; three days to spend as much time as possible with just Erik.

“Hey, stranger.”

Charles grinned as he got in the car, leaning over and kissing Erik’s cheek, “Long time no see.”

“Mmhm,” Erik agreed, “A whole two days. I don’t know how I’ve survived.”

“The utter hardship.”

Erik laughed and started the car, “How was your day?”

“Shit.”

“Just because I wasn’t there, right?”

“Obviously.”

“Ah,” Erik grinned at him, “I’ll make you feel better soon, baby.”

\---

They were sitting in the middle of Erik’s lounge room floor, legs crossed and bowls of home cooked pasta in their laps. There was mind-numbing television playing in the background that neither of them was paying attention to.

“So, how long do I have you until I lose you again?”

“Tuesday morning,” Charles replied through a bite of pasta, “I have to pick up Raven in the afternoon.”

“Three days isn’t long enough.”

Charles smiled softly at him, “You get me for over a week once she goes, though.”

“Still not long enough,” Erik mumbled, stabbing his pasta.

Charles laughed, “I’m glad you enjoy my company so much.”

“You have no idea,” Erik took another bite, “Are they staying with you or at a hotel?”

“At home,” Charles replied, “Kurt’s out of the country with Cain till at least January and my mother’s in hospital so they won’t be there to,” he paused, “Bing down the mood.”

“You’re excited.”

Charles hummed, “I haven’t seen Raven in a long time.”

“I suppose I can let you go, knowing you’ll be happy,”

Charles smiled, looking up at Erik as his chest clenched, “It’ll be over before you know it.”

They ate the rest of the meal in a comfortable silence, Erik occasionally making snarky comments about the television show they were watching. Once they were done, Erik let Charles stay on the floor as he put the plates in the sink. “Need anything else?” he called out from the kitchen, looking behind him at Charles.

“Just you.”

Erik grinned and went back to him, dropping to the floor and lying down next to him, “I can do that.”

Charles giggled and moved so he was lying on his side next to him, “Where’d you learn to cook?”

“My mother,” Erik smiled fondly, “Why, am I good?”

“Very.”

 “I should be, I spent most of my childhood in the kitchen helping my mother cook.”

“Were there ever any accidents?”

“We nearly set the kitchen on fire a few time,” Erik laughed, “If it were still standing, I’m sure my childhood home would still have scorch marks in the kitchen.”

“I’m not allowed in my kitchen much,” Charles said, cringing at the memories of the family chef trying to teach him how to cook.

“Not any good at cooking?”

“I have the capability to burn water and almost set a multimillion dollar house on fire just from attempting to make toast.”

Erik laughed loudly, “I guess I’ll be the one cooking in this relationship.”

“Yup,” Charles agreed, “I can bake though. I have no idea how, but I’m actually good at it.”

“I never quite got baking. I tried to bake cookies once when I was eight and completely ruined the kitchen curtains. My father wasn’t very happy but Mum just laughed it off. She even tried one of the cookies to make me feel better.”

Charles grinned at him, “Mamma’s boy?”

“The biggest you’ve ever met.”

“That’s adorable.”

“She thought so, too.”

Charles reached a hand out to stroke down Erik’s cheek, “Past tense,” he stated.

Erik hummed, grabbing Charles so he was lying on top of him, his hands clutching at the younger man’s lower shirt. “It was five years ago; my mother, my father and my sister. They were in a car crash,” Erik cleared his throat, “I was supposed to be in the car, too, but I had promised Emma I’d help her move into her apartment.” Erik kissed the side of Charles’ jaw, “I don’t know if I love or hate her for it.”

Charles felt his heart break at the look on Erik’s face, the wetness of his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, not knowing what else to say.

Erik smiled gently at him, hand moving up his back to run through his hair, “It’s okay, it’s gotten easier. You missed out on my emotional breakdown.” He kissed Charles’ mouth gently, “I didn’t leave my bed for about a month, broke both my hand at different times from punching walls and nearly killed the guy that was driving the truck.”

“I’m glad you didn’t do _that_ ,” Charles said, resting his elbows on either side of Erik’s head.

Erik half sighed, half laughed, “So am I.”

\---

“Beautiful, darling,” Erik whispered, mouth moving to nip at his jaw. He trailed a line of kisses to Charles’ ear, hands moving to tug at his shirt.

Charles’ chest clenched and he whimpered as Erik all but growled _mine_ in his ear _._

“Erik,” he murmured, laughing when the other man grunts and tries to kiss him again. The laugh turns to a moan when Erik’s hands make their way under his shirt, one hand gently stroking the sides of his torso while the other reached towards his nipple.

Charles pulled on Erik’s hair softly, tugging the man away from him. Erik looked confused for a minute before Charles reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head. He let it drop and pulled his own off before he grabbed Erik again, a small whimper leaving his mouth when Erik pushed harder against him. He rocked his hips forward, pressing his body against Erik’s and earning a grunt from the other man.

“I want,” Charles breathed, moaning as Erik kissed and bit at his neck, “Can we-“

“Can we what, baby?”

“Pants,” Charles panted, “Off. Now. _Please_.”

Without ceasing his assault on Charles’ neck, Erik reached down and made quick work of unbuttoning both his and Charles’ pants. Once they were off, they were thrown to the pile of clothes on Erik’s bedroom floor. “Better?” Erik asked, biting down hard on Charles’ collarbone.

“More,” Charles begged, fingernails digging into Erik’s back.

Erik smirked against his skin and hooked his fingers in the top of Charles’ boxers. “Off?” he asked, looking down at the younger man.

Charles nodded, hips pressing up for contact. “Yours too.”

Erik didn’t waste any time, quickly pulling them down and throwing them on the floor. “You look so beautiful like this, liebling,” Erik murmured, teeth nipping at his jaw as his hips grinded against Charles’, creating the perfect friction.

“ _Erik_.”

Erik groaned and swore in German as Charles’ fingers dragged down his back. Reaching out blindly to his bedside table, Erik opened the draw and fished around for the lube he knew was in there. Grabbing it, he sat up, legs on either side Charles’ waist.

Charles whined and tried to pull him back down but Erik hushed him, “It’ll feel better, meinliebling, hold on.”

Charles squirmed but complied, watching as Erik squirted lube, covering his right palm. Grinning wolfishly at Charles, he placed the bottle back on the bedside table and leant down to kiss the boy again. Tongue running along the roof of Charles’ mouth, Erik moved his hands between their bodies and grabbed both his and Charles’ cocks, slicked hand sliding up and down.

“ _Erik,”_ Charles moaned, hands scratching at the other man’s back, “Erik, _please._ I’m not going to-“

“Come, darling,” Erik whispered into his mouth, applying more pressure with his hand and quickening his space.

“ _Erik,”_ Charles breathed, “Erik, fuck, _fuck,_ please. _Erik, please._ ”

It didn’t take much longer for Charles to Come, moaning Erik’s name as he did, his seed shooting all over both his and Erik’s torsos. Erik came a few seconds after, mouth biting down on Charles’ shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise as he did so.

He collapsed on top of the younger man and placed light kisses all over Charles’ face. “Beautiful, baby. You’re so beautiful,” he mumbled against Charles’ skin as the boy’s hands cradled through his hair. “Especially like this,” he said, drowsily, “I don’t think you realise what you do to me.”

Charles smiled at him sleepily, “I think I have a good idea.”

Erik smiled back at him, “Think we should clean up?”

“A nap sounds much more appealing,” Charles replied, lips pouting slightly at the mention of moving.

Erik hummed his agreement, moving their bodies so they were wrapped up with each other under the sheets. “I completely agree. I don’t think I can move right now, anyway”

“My neck already hurts.”

Erik chuckled and kissed his forehead, “The good kind of hurts, though, right?”

Charles hummed and snuggled into his chest.

\---

Charles tugged at his scarf once again from his spot in Erik’s car, “I can’t help but think you’ve done this on purpose.”

“Haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, darling.”

Charles laughed and leaned back in his chair, turning his head so he was looking at Erik. “Of course you don’t.”

“Mmhm,” the other man replied, smirking slightly.

“So it’s merely a coincidence that you covered at least three quarters of my neck in hickeys when you _know_ I’ll be working with Logan today?”

“I have no such knowledge.”

“You’ve come in every time I’ve been working with him and tried to be all scarily possessive without _actually_ _being_ scarily possessive.”

“Have I? Must be another coincidence.”

Charles sighed and shook his head fondly. He’d worked three short shifts throughout the last week, all with Logan. Each shift had consisted of Charles pretending he didn’t notice Logan staring and making suggestive comments and Erik coming in the café for a few minutes, glaring and being too touchy-feely with Charles.

“You’re plan will fail if I keep the scarf on, you realise.”

“There is no plan,” Erik replied, pulling into the café’s parking lot. “Are you late today or did I get you here on time?”

Charles smiled and checked his phone, “Ten minutes early, I think that’s a record for us.”

“We could jump in the backseat and make out for ten minutes.”

Charles laughed, “Tempting, but no.”

Erik pouted at him, “Later?”

“Later,” Charles agreed and got out of the car, Erik following his lead.

“How long’s your shift?”

“Six hours,” Erik groaned and Charles laughed. “You can wait that long, can’t you?”

“No.”

“I thought you were supposed to be the older one in this relationship.”

Erik groaned again, “Please don’t remind me, my birthday’s coming up.”

“The big three zero,” Charles grinned.

“Not funny. You’re going to be dating a thirty year old.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Erik asked, seriously, as he held the café door open for Charles to walk in.

“Really, Erik,” Charles confirmed, watching as Erik walked in and let the door slam shut behind them.

“Most people would mind.”

Charles raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m not most people, am I?”

“Definitely not,” Erik agreed, “One of a kind.”

The café was filled with people but there wasn’t anyone waiting at the counter, just Logan and Emma. Logan sat at one of the tables near the counter, eyes snapping up when he heard Charles’ voice. Charles smiled at him before turning away. He was slightly surprised to see Emma behind the counter, an apron on and obvious signs indicating she had been working.

“You’re early today, sugar,” she asked, smirking at the scarf wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Surprisingly,” he smiled as she threw him his apron.

“And how can I help you, old man?” Emma asked Erik, smiling at him.

“Oh, you actually work? Here I was thinking you were here to just walk around and order people to do things.”

“Funny. Who do you think works when your boy’s at school?”

“I always thought Moira did it,” Charles said, attempting, and failing, to tie his apron.

“I didn’t even think you could make a proper cup of coffee. Every time you made me one back in college it usually got spat out.”

“That’s because you were always a pain in the ass, Lehnsherr.”

“So Erik hasn’t changed much since college, then?” Charles asked, hands fumbling to tie the apron again.

Erik grinned and grabbed his hands, pushing them out of the way. “And you would know, would you?” Erik murmured, pulling the boy closer as he tied the apron for him.

Charles turned his head towards Erik and smiled his thanks, “I think I’d know, yeah.”

“I think he’d know better than anyone,” Emma stated, smirking at Erik.

“Probably,” Erik agreed, hands still planted firmly on Charles’ body, rubbing gentle circles into the small of his back. “It’s cold in here; you should turn up the heating.”

Charles rolled his eyes.

“Will do, sugar.”

Grinning, he turned towards Emma, “Coffee, double shot. I have a lunch date soon.”

Emma nodded, turning to make it.

Charles’ brow furrowed, “Lunch date with whom?”

“Publisher,” Erik smirked, “I’ve finished the final draft for the next book and we need to discuss things.”

“Oh.”

“Mmhm.”

“Can I read it?”

“Yeah, I meant to mention it before but forgot.”

“This one took a while to write,” Emma chimed in, looking over as she put the lid on Erik’s coffee.

“There were things distracting me,” Erik replied, finally letting Charles go and fishing out his wallet. He handed more than enough money over to Emma and leant across the counter to kiss her cheek, “Hopefully you’re barista skills have improved.”

“My skills were always impeccable.”

“Whatever you say, Frost,” Erik grabbed the coffee and turned to Charles. He paused, as if he didn’t know what to do before smiling at the younger man, “I’ll see you later, liebling.”

Charles bit his lip and nodded, wishing Erik could kiss _him_ goodbye.

\---

Liebling, huh? 

**Piss off, Emma.**

He must be special. The only people I’ve heard you call liebling are the people you love.

**Go away.**

Do you love him?

You do, don’t you?

**Please don’t make me think about it.**

He loves you, too.

**I hope so.**

\---

“You’re very close.”

“Huh?” Charles asked, turning his body towards Logan and tugging at his scarf. It was too warm in the café and he had too many items of clothing on.

“You and Lehnsherr, you’re very close,” Logan replied, leaning against the counter.

“Oh,” Charles paused, “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You’re not worried?”

Charles sighed, rubbing at his face, “No, I’m not.” he said. “As far as I’m concerned there isn’t anything to be worried about.”

Logan nodded, “He doesn’t seem all that scary.”

“I don’t doubt he could be, but to me he isn’t. Alex and Sean are just drama queens.”

Logan grinned and paused for a moment, “Are you a thing?”

Charles groaned, “Not you, too. I get enough shit from Alex.”

Logan chuckled and held his hands up as if to defend himself, “Just asking.”

“Why?” sighing again, he turned his back and tugged his scarf loose.

“I wanted to ask you if you were doing anything tonight. I thought maybe we could do something.”

Charles stood shock-still, eyes widening. Slowly, very slowly, he turned to look at Logan. “Uh,” he grimaced.

Logan let out a small, disbelieving laugh when he noticed his neck, “Never mind, then.”

“I’m sorry,” Charles said, hanging his scarf up next to where Logan had out his leather jacket.

“Nothing to be sorry for, bub. I know how to back off when I need to.”

“Thank you,” Charles said, mentally cheering.

“How long have you been with him, then?”

Charles was surprised at the question; he hadn’t thought Logan would ask something like that. “Officially just over a month, but,” he trailed off, not knowing how to word what he felt.

“But you were kind of a thing for a long time?”

Charles nodded, “Yeah,” his lips lifted in a small, fond smile as he thought back to the first few months he had spent getting to know Erik.

**\---**

 “You’ll be happy to know your plan worked,” Charles said, looking down at Erik.

“I never had a plan,” Erik denied, shifting in his spot on the loveseat.

“Uh huh, sure, Lehnsherr.”

Erik smiled and reached his hands out, grabbing Charles around the waist a pulling him down so he was sitting in Erik’s lap. “Tell me what happened,” he mumbled into Charles’ right shoulder blade.

“You make it sound like a big thing.”

“It kind of is.”

Charles rolled his eyes fondly, “I had my back turned when I pulled the scarf off and as I did, he asked me what I was doing tonight and if we could do something. When I turned around to answer he saw what _you_ had done and backed off. Not a big deal.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“My plan did work.”

“Thought there wasn’t a plan,” Charles said, turning his head to look at Erik.

“There’s always a plan.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Erik smiled faintly and kissed his cheek, “Was he upset?”

“Logan?”

Erik nodded.

“Not really, no.”

“That proves it, then,” Erik murmured, manoeuvring their bodies so Charles was lying under him on the couch.

“Proves what?” Charles asked, hands immediately moving to rest at the base of Erik’s neck.

“That he wasn’t interested in anything more than spending one night with you, if that.”

“Well, that makes me feel wonderful,” Charles said sarcastically.

Erik grinned at him and leant down, kissing him softly on his bruised neck. “Who cares about him,” he whispered against Charles’ neck, “Focus on me.”


	11. The Sister (Part One)

Charles was _really_ glad he looked good in scarfs. He didn’t even want to _think_ about Raven’s reaction if he showed up to lunch with half his neck bruised. No, she couldn’t see until he had explained the Erik situation. Even then, Charles thought, it was probably best to wait until she had gotten over the initial anger, because surely that would be her first response.

Just thinking about telling Raven about Erik made Charles uncomfortable. He _knew_ his sister loved him, he _knew_ she wanted him to be happy. He just couldn’t imagine her being happy that he was in a relationship with a thirty year old.

He sighed to himself, the age difference didn’t bother him, nor did it seem to bother Erik. Charles didn’t see why it had to bother anyone else. _They_ weren’t in the relationship.

Taking a deep breath, Charles banished all thoughts of an upset sister from his mind. He wasn’t going to tell her today. Today would be spent with just the two of them.  No need for any potentially life ruining information to be let out.

He parked the car a short walk away from the restaurant he was meeting Raven at, checking his phone as he felt it vibrate in his pocket.

**Is it time for you to come back yet? The apartment feels empty.**

Leaning back in his seat, Charles smiled fondly at his phone and typed out a reply. He could afford talking to Erik for a moment; he was early.

_Not quite. Surely you can manage being alone for a few days?_

**No.**

_Poor baby. I promise I’ll make up for all the lonely nights._

**That idea I like.**

_You would._

**What time are you meeting them for lunch?**

_In about ten minutes. It’s just Raven today. Said she wanted to have a day alone with me before I met Azazel._

**Ah. Similar idea to your plan, then.**

_I’m worried how she’s going to react when I tell her about you._

**You don’t have to, you know. It’s entirely up to you.**

_I want to, though. I’m just scared._

**No crazy sister will push me away; if that’s something you’re worried about.**

Charles smiled at his phone, if he was honest with himself, _that_ was something he had been worried about.

_Good. I probably wouldn’t let you leave, anyway._

**I don’t doubt it.**

**Go have fun at lunch. I’ll be waiting in my living room watching crappy TV and eating cereal.**

_Your day’s plans sound even more fun than mine do. Talk later._

\---

One of the first things Charles saw when he entered the quiet little restraint was his sister’s long blonde hair. Not that he got to look at it for long; he was engulfed in a bone crushing hug mere seconds after he had got within reach of his older sister. He hugged her back just as hard, head buried in the crook of her neck as he breathed in the familiar scent of her perfume.

“I’ve missed you,” he mumbled, embarrassed at the slight urge to cry he was feeling.

“You, too,” Raven laughed and kissed his forehead. “I see you haven’t grown since the last time I saw you.”

Charles laugh came out in a puff of air, “I think I may have even shrunk.” He moved out of the embrace and pulled out his sister’s chair.

“Always the gentleman,” Raven grinned, sitting down.

“Only for you,” Charles replied, sitting in his own chair.

“I’ve missed you so much, brother mine,” Raven said, drinking from one of the glasses of icy water on the table. “I’ve been so busy with school and work there hasn’t been any time to fly over. How’ve you been? What have you been up to?”

Charles told her, biting his tongue every time Erik’s name popped up in his head. He told her how he had gotten a job just before he had to go back to school (“That was stupid, Charles. You should have got it at the _beginning_ of the summer!”), he explained how _yes,_ he did actually have friends (“That’s a surprise. I kinda always thought you’d be alone till you got into a good college and hung around other freakishly smart people.”). He told her how he was still doing well in school; despite the idiots that went there (“I’d be surprised if you weren’t doing well. You’ve always been the smart one.”). He updated her on their mother’s health condition and explained that she was in hospital for the holidays (“Can’t say I’m all that upset. She hasn’t been the most loving mother recently.”), and how both Kurt and Cain won’t be around all holidays (“Thank fuck for that. I’d rather not have to deal with them.”).

During his recount of the last six or so months, Charles realised how absolutely _boring_ his life was without Erik and all the stuff that came along with him. It really was ridiculous; he was an eighteen year old male with enough money to practically do whatever he wanted to. He _should_ have had better things to talk about when asked ‘what have you been up to?’

The waiter walked towards them carrying their food, Raven’s eyes lit up at the sight and Charles took the opportunity to fish out his phone and sent a quick text.

_You make my life interesting._

He smiled his thanks to the young female waiter, ignoring the obvious look of appreciation sent his way before she walked off.

“She was giving you the eyes, little brother.”

“Not my area,” he said as his phone vibrated, “As we all know.”

**A rumoured perverted criminal coming into your life tends to do that.**

“I don’t know how people still get it mixed up. You practically scream ‘homosexual’. I mean that scarf you have on, I’m pretty sure that belonged to me.” Raven grinned at him and took a large bite of her burger.

_Not for that reason, dummy._

Charles took a bite of his own burger, “I don’t know if I should be insulted or not. And the scarf is mine.” Technically, it belonged to Emma, but she had left it at Erik’s house a while ago, meaning it was free for him to wear.

“You shouldn’t be, but only because it’s coming from yours truly.”

“Making special rules for yourself again, are you?”

“Naturally.”

**No, it’s my ridiculous good looks and amazing abilities in bed.**

Charles grinned at the line of winky-faced emoticons that accompanied the text, earning him an odd look from Raven.

_Talking yourself up again, Lehnsherr?_

He cleared his throat and looked back at his sister, “Sorry.”

“I haven’t seen you smile at your phone, like, ever,” Raven replied and took another biteof her meal.

**Go back to your meal, darling. The hunger you’re feeling is obviously getting to your head.**

Charles bite his lip to stop from laughing, “The whole ‘I have friends now’ thing. Remember?” Raven nodded as if it were a good enough explanation and Charles internally sighed with relief. “So,” he started, “This Russian boyfriend of yours. Tell me everything.”

In retrospect, Charles slightly regretted his choice of words. _Everything_ was exactly what Raven told him.

They had been together for around six months, having met at the beginning of the year by bumping into each other on campus in a haste to get to different classes. Azazel had, apparently, then asked around to find out who she was and they had become good friends not long after (“Friends or _friends?_ ” Charles had asked, to which Raven had blushed faintly and continued her story). She told him about their time as friends and how it eventually turned into more than friends. She went into excruciating detail about aspects of her sex life, something Charles didn’t really want to know about, and how she could see the relationship going places. It was obvious he made Raven happy.

Charles smiled, “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, little brother,” she smirked at him, “Soon you’ll hopefully have a man as wonderful as mine.”

 _If only you knew._ “Yes,” he agreed, “Soon.”

\---

“So, you’re Azazel?”

Azazel turned to him and offered his hand. “Yes, hello,” he said, the thick Russian accent prominent, “You must be the little brother she never shuts up about.”

Charles beamed and took his hand, “That is I.”

They were sitting in the main living area of Charles’ family’s home while Raven was in the kitchen attempting to make dinner, because apparently she could do that now.

“I hear I have a test to pass?”

“Yep,” Charles replied, “The big-brother test.”

“Aren’t you younger?”

“If you want to pass the test, you won’t mention the technicalities.”

“Right,” Azazel chuckled, “Okay. Shall we begin? Assuming, of course, that’s how the test works?”

“It is, and we shall.”

Azazel passed the test with flying colours, in Charles’ opinion. He seemed to suite Raven perfectly. He gave Charles a good vibe, as if he could trust the other man to take care of Raven and not have to worry about it; and that was something Charles thought was very, very good.

Not to mention that the effect he had on Raven was obviously felt by him too. He was smiling a genuine smile throughout the entire thing, like just thinking about his time with Raven made him the happiest man alive.

\---

“So, did he pass the younger brother test?”

“It’s the big brother test.”

Raven rolled her eyes, “Did he pass or not?”

Charles smiled at her, “When’s the wedding?”

\---

Charles grimaced as he heard a male moan from the room above his. _This_ was not what he had signed up for.

He had known from Raven’s explanation of the relationship that she and Azazel had a rather active sex life; he just didn’t think he would have to be subjected to it. Listening to your sister have sex, Charles concluded, was not, in any way, shape or form, fun.

_Erik, help._

The reply was almost instant. **What’s happened?**

_I can hear them having sex._

**…**

**Are you serious?**

**Oh my god.**

_Don’t laugh!_

**I’m not!**

_You are, I can tell._

_You’re supposed to be a supportive boyfriend in this situation._

**Right. Sorry.**

**I’m sorry you’re being subjected to such a horrifying thing, darling. How can I help?**

_I don’t know, how can I get them to stop?_

**How far away is their room from yours?**

_Directly above._

**Oh, that’s bad.**

**Throw something at the roof? Let them know you’re still awake.**

_I doubt they’d hear._

_The entire bloody street’s probably awake at this point._

**Being a screamer runs in the family then, huh?**

_ERIK!_

**Sorry! Sorry.**

**Uh, earphones? Block them out.**

_They broke today, only one side works._

**Nothing is going your way, is it?**

_Apparently not._

**If I was there, I’d suggest we have some form of sex and make even more noise, but since I’m not there, that can’t happen.**

_Pity, that._

_If there ever is the chance to get her back for this, though, know that that’s exactly what we’d do._

**I look forward to it.**

_How long do you think this is going to go on for?_

**I’m not sure, darling. It could be a few minutes but then it could also go on for hours.**

_:(_

_This is truly traumatising._

**Maybe go somewhere else in the house?**

_They might hear me leave and I don’t want to think about the awkward situation that would cause. Talking to you makes it easier to block out._

_Plus, I’m mostly naked and getting out of bed might actually kill me._

**Mostly naked?**

_Underwear._

**Why do you not have more clothes on?**

_Most of the stuff I wear is at your place. It was too difficult to look for other stuff to sleep in._

**Please don’t freeze to death.**

_I have five blankets on. I should be okay._

_It would be better if your body was here to keep me warm, though._

**I completely agree with that.**

_It’s not fair._

**What isn’t?**

_They get to have sex and all I get is text messaging. I’d rather us be in their position._

**That can be taken in a few different ways, given the circumstances.**

_I think they’re nearly done._

**I hope so, for your sanity.**

_There was a lot of too loud moaning and now it’s quiet._

**Let’s just hope they don’t go for a second round.**

_Oh, god, please no._

_I don’t think I could handle that._

**Fingers crossed.**

**Still quiet?**

_I can hear someone walking around softly. Probably cleaning up._

**Doubt there’d be a round two, then.**

_Thank fuck._

**Watch your choice of words.**

_I can hear quiet snoring. The coast is clear._

**Yay!**

_If you were here, now is when I’d jump you._

**Wake them up with our own noise. I like it.**

_That’s the plan._

**I’ll remember it in case we ever need it.**

**Think you can sleep now?**

_Yeah, my body is exhausted._

**Couldn’t imagine why. You hardly move.**

_Shush, you._

**Get some sleep, liebling. We’ll talk some more tomorrow.**

_Okay._

_Goodnight, Lehnsherr._

**I’d kiss you if I could, darling.**

Charles smiled at his phone before placing it on the bedside table before wrapping the blankets even tighter around his small frame. He couldn’t comprehend how much he _loved_ that man.

\---

“How’d you sleep last night?” Raven asked at breakfast the next morning.

“Wonderful,” he replied, noticing the wink she sent towards Azazel. “If you take away the time spent listening to moans and bangs coming from the room above mine,” he deadpanned.

\---

Charles couldn’t hold it anymore. He _needed_ to tell Raven about Erik. It had only been a day and he couldn’t handle having to catch himself every time he tried to bring up the topic. Raven was his sister; she had to at least _try_ to be happy for him. He had almost let it slip out a few times since she had got here, looking like an idiot each time he stopped mid-sentence and changed the subject.

_I think I’m going to tell her._

**Now?**

_Yep._

**Are you sure?**

_Don’t make me lose my nerve._

**I wish I was there to help, baby.**

_If all turns to shit, can I stay with you tonight?_

**Of course. Call me after and if you want I’ll come and get you.**

**I’m sure it’ll be fine, darling.**

_She’s not known to be the most supporting of relationships with large age differences._

**But this is your relationship. If I make you happy then it shouldn’t matter. She’s your sister; she should want nothing more than for you to be happy, especially considering your past.**

**Besides, she isn’t in the relationship, it shouldn’t really matter what she thinks. And like I said before, darling, no crazy sister could make me run away. I’ve been dealing with Emma for ten years, I’m quite prepared.**

Charles couldn’t help but smile at the phone, earning another odd look from Raven.

_Thank you. I’m about to hyperventilate but you’re making this easier._

**No hyperventilating. Do whatever you feel like you need to do. I’ll still be here after it.**

_Talk to you in a bit, then._

**Good luck, darling.**

“If you keep smiling at your phone I’m going to think something’s wrong.”

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hands against his thighs and looked over towards where Raven was leaning against Azazel. “Raven?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk?”

Raven looked at him oddly for a minute, “We are.”

Charles rolled his eyes, “No, I mean I want to tell you something.”

She looked towards Azazel briefly, “Alone?”

Biting his lip, Charles shrugged, “I don’t mind.” It would probably be a good idea to have someone who could calm Raven down around for this. Besides, he’d probably hear all about it later anyway; best he got the correct information, not the altered account Raven would have told him.

“Something good or something bad?”

“I think it’s good,” he replied, smiling softly, “Really, _really_ good. You might have the opposite opinion.”

“That doesn’t sound very good.”

“ _That_ sounds like a boy,” Azazel’s accented voice cut in.

Charles blushed and Raven’s eyes widened as she sat upright and leant forward, “Who?” She was grinning, her excitement evident, and Charles wanted to crawl into a hole.

“No, no. Don’t get happy yet.”

“Why?”

“Because it isn’t a _boy.”_

“What is it, then?” Her smile faltered and her forehead screwed up in concentration.

Charles paused, not knowing how to say it, “It’s a _man.”_

“That’s the same, isn’t it?” Azazel asked, looking quizzically at Raven.

Raven ignored him and grinned at Charles, “You forget _you’re_ a man. Eighteenth birthday and all.”

“Yeah, but I’m still in school.”

“Your _man_ isn’t?”

“No.”

“You’re allowed to date men, Charles.”

“Yeah, but,” he trailed off, looking away.

“But what, Charles?”

“What if said man was a lot older?” he mumbled, looking at the ground.

“Who cares?” Azazel asked from his spot, and Charles decided that yes, he did like him.

“How much older is a lot older?” Raven didn’t sound all that happy anymore; instead she leant even further forward and looked at him strangely.

“I’m not sure I want to say.”

“ _Charles.”_

“You’re not going to like it.”

Raven opened her mouth to speak but Azazel beat her to it, “How about,” he said, hand reaching out to grab Raven’s, “Charles tells us a bit about this guy so we know if we should freak out.”

Definitely a keeper, Charles thought as he nodded and looked towards Raven.

“Fine,” she mumbled. “Tell us about your _man.”_

“I’m only going to tell you if you actually want to know, Raven.”  
  
“Of course I want to know.”  
  
“Tell us how you met,” Azazel supplied.  
  
Charles smiled at Azazel, grateful for his presence. “We met at work, so around four months ago,” he started, a ghost of a smile on his face as he remembered. “Regular customer, you know? Everyone else is kinda scared of him and don't usually like serving him so I always did it if I was working. He has a bit of an odd reputation and isn't necessarily known for being nice.”  
  
“Not really making him sound all that great, little brother.”  
  
Charles rolled his eyes, “ _I_ don't understand why people think that, though. He's never been anything but nice to me. Maybe a bit overly nice at the beginning but I never cared. If anything, I enjoyed it. For the first couple of weeks I’d spend my breaks with him if he was there; that was the only time we'd talk but then he left me his number and talking to him kinda just turned into a daily thing,” he paused, “I mean, once I got the nerve to actually send a text.”  
  
“You didn't get together through texting, though.”  
  
“No, we didn't. That's a bit more difficult,” Charles winced at the memory of the fight. “Kurt found out about Dad's arrangements before he died and we had a fight,” he clears his throat, “A heated fight and, I don't know. It was around four in the morning and I was tired and upset and generally just over being here and he was yelling, fucking screaming, Raven. You know what I'm like when people scream at me,” he sighed, hands rubbing at his eyes, “Anyway, I ran off. It was freezing and windy and pouring down rain and I have no idea how I didn't get sick but I ran until I couldn't breathe.”  
  
“Charles,” she whispered, looking as if she wanted to say something.  
  
“And then, because I didn't know what to do once I had stopped, I called Erik,” he stopped and smiled, looking at Raven again, “That's his name, Erik. And he answered, even though it was at a ridiculous hour, and I told him where I was and he came and got me. He took me back to his apartment, let me have a hot shower, gave me clothes to wear and then let me sleep in his bed without me giving him a proper explanation as to what had happened. I was still upset,” Charles shifted, “And didn't really want to be alone so I asked him to stay with me and we, uh, ended up sleeping in his bed together.”   
  
“He took advantage of you when you were upset?” Raven asked, anger laced through her voice.   
  
“No,” Charles said, glaring at her. “Nothing happened until the night after.”  
  
“The night after? Not the morning?”  
  
“No, not the morning. We woke up late the next day and we were kind of, I don't know, intertwined? I woke up before Erik did and was a little scared to move in case I woke him up. I was scared he'd move away. He eventually did though, wake up, that is. He didn't exactly like the idea of moving away,” Charles bit his lip to stop from grinning too much at the memory of that first morning. Sleepy Erik never failed to make his heart melt. “We stayed in bed for a while and I kind if ended up telling him everything.”  
  
“Everything?”  
  
“Mmhm.”  
  
“Like, dad and Kurt and Cain and Mum type of everything?”  
  
“Yeah.”

  
“Bloody hell,” Raven looked faintly shocked. “It took me forever to tell this one,” she jabbed Azazel, “All of that and you tell some guy after what, three months?”  
  
Charles nodded, “He knows just as much, if not more, as you do, Raven,” he whispered  
  
She sighed, “How'd it happen?”  
  
Charles shrugged, “I stayed over again and around the time we went to bed it sort of just happened.”  
  
“So on your birthday, when I asked if the _friend_ you were with was a boyfriend and you said no...”  
  
“I was lying. I didn't want to tell you then. We had only gotten together a week before.”  
  
“Charles!”  
  
“You can't really say anything, sweetheart. We were together for a while before you told him.”  
  
“I like him, Raven. Keep this one around.”  
  
Raven glared at Azazel, “Whose side are you on?”   
  
Azazel laughed, “Are there sides to pick from?”  
  
Raven rolled her eyes and looked at Charles, “Can I ask questions?”  
  
Charles nodded and moved so he was lying down on the couch, hands playing with the frilly bits of his scarf.   
  
“What does he do?”  
  
“Historical author.”  
  
“Out of college, then?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Charles could tell she wanted to ask a follow up question but she didn't, just clenched her jaw.  
  
“Have you had sex?”  
  
Charles blushed a deep red, mouth opening and closing like he didn't know what to say. “No,”  
  
“Your reaction makes you look like have.”  
  
Charles sighed, “We haven't. At least, not in the way most people would consider sex.”  
  
“But you've done _things_?”  
  
Charles looked at his sister like she was an idiot. “Of course we've done _things_. I'm a teenage boy; a lot of what I want to do is _things_.”  
  
Azazel chuckled, “It stays that way, too.”  
  
Charles grinned, “So I've noticed.”  
  
“Does he treat you good?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Does he want you to be happy?”  
  
“The other day, I told him I was nervous about telling you about our relationship and he told me that it shouldn't be a big thing because you should want me to be happy,” Charles laughed quietly, “He said the purpose of life should be to make me happy.”  
  
“Sickeningly cute, Charles.”   
  
Charles just shrugged.   
  
“So he makes you happy?”  
  
Smiling, Charles nodded. “Whose texts do you think I've been smiling at?”  
  
“I thought that was a bit weird.”  
  
Charles laughed again, “Oh yeah, so weird that _I_ could actually be _happy_.”   
  
Raven smiled softly at him, “He sounds okay, I guess. Why are you so worried?”  
  
“I told you. There's an age difference.”  
  
“How big?”  
  
“Bigger than you'd like.”  
  
“You're making him sound like he's in his sixties, Charles.”  
  
“Not just yet.”  
  
“I couldn't care less if you were dating someone in their early twenties, Charles.”  
  
Charles cringed, “And if I was dating someone who was about to be in their early _thirties_?”  
  
Raven raised an eyebrow, “He's thirty?”  
  
“In a little over two weeks.”  
  
“Charles,” there was a waning note in her voice.   
  
“Don't,” he said, “Please don't.”

  
“That's ten years older than _me_.”  
  
“I know.”  
  
“Charles, this is serious.”  
  
Charles sat back up, “Does it really matter?”  
  
“Yes!”  
  
“ _Why_? Why should it matter if he makes me happy? I _knew_ you'd get annoyed. It's so _stupid_.”  
  
“No, it isn't. Have you even thought this through? Have you _really_ thought about this? What happens, assuming you're still together, when you finish school and want to move somewhere else for college? Last I checked, you wanted to go back to England, Charles.” Raven stood up and moved closer, looking over him. “Long distance relationships don't work. They don't.”  
  
“And you would know, would you?”  
  
“I've seen enough people come to collage with their high school boyfriends and girlfriends at home all optimistic about staying together. Within a month they're seen dry humping some stranger on a couch somewhere.” Raven shook her head and looked down at Charles, “You know the only reason older men go for a younger person is for sex. Don't be so naive about it, Charles. He's probably just going to fuck you and then leave you.”  
  
“Whoa!” Azazel stood up, grabbing Raven's arm and pulling her away from Charles a bit. “That was a bit uncalled for.”  
  
“It's true though,” she said, head turned so she could look her boyfriend in the eye. “Just watch, sooner or later I'm going to get a call from him all upset saying it happened.”  
  
“If you think,” Charles whispered from where he sat shock still on the couch, “That, assuming it happens, I would call you after you had just said _that_ , then you're mistaken, Raven.”  
  
“Oh, come on!” Raven turned back to Charles. “Don't be like that, little brother. I'm right. You'll see. He'll sweet talk you until you like him enough to give him your virginity and then he'll leave you alone and won't even care what is does to you.”  
  
Charles shook his head disbelievingly, “I can't believe you.” He cleared his throat and fished his phone out of his pocket. Unlocking it, he got to Erik's contact and pressed call.   
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
Charles didn't answer her; instead he put the phone to his ear and waited for Erik to answer. He didn't have to wait long, the familiar, and welcome, voice answering on the fourth call.   
  
“Charles?”  
  
“Can you come and get me?” He watched as Raven's eyes widened, it would have been comical at any other time.   
  
“Of course, liebling,” Erik’s voice was soft, calming. “Didn't go so well?”  
  
“No,” Charles sighed into the phone, free hand running over his face. “Not really. I have enough clothes at your apartment, right?”   
  
Charles heard a car door slam shut on the other end, “Yeah, enough for a couple of days. But then there are always mine.”  
  
Charles smiled faintly, “I'm not going out in public in _those_ again.”  
  
Erik chuckled on the other end, “I thought you looked rather adorable.”   
  
“You would.”  
  
Charles heard an engine roar, “I probably shouldn't talk on the phone while driving in these conditions.”  
  
“No, you shouldn't. I want you to get here in once piece.”  
  
“I should be there in under half an hour. Text or call me if I'm not. It might take a bit longer because the state the roads are in.”   
  
Charles hummed, “It's okay,” he whispered, “Just come and take me home.”  
  
He didn't know when it happened, but Erik's apartment, or just plain Erik, had become known as _home_ in his head.   
  
“I'll see you soon, my darling.”  
  
Charles hummed again, “Soon.” He hung up the phone stood up, sighing as he looked at Raven.   
  
“And where do you think you're going?”  
  
“Away from you.”  
  
“Not if I get a say in it.”  
  
“Luckily for me, you don't.”  
  
“I'm your older sister. I'm responsible for you when our parents aren't here, and I say you can't go.”  
  
“I'm eighteen. I'm responsible for myself, as I have been for the past ten years.”   
  
“Charles!”  
  
“I'm also not the one acting like a two year old,” he continued, ignoring her. “Besides,” he paused, “I can't stand the sight of you right now.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! I apologise for any mistakes found, I only briefly looked over this (and as I wrote some of it on my phone, I can imagine that there would be a few mistakes). This is by no means my favourite chapter but I needed to post something.


	12. The Sister (Part Two)

Charles was angry, so _fucking_ angry.

He couldn’t believe his sister would say something like that to him. Best interests in mind or not, that was just cruel.

His hands shook slightly as he paced back and forth, jaw clenched tight as he willed himself to not do anything stupid. His throat was tight, his breath coming in too quick gasps. He couldn’t believe his sister would do—

Groaning loudly, he resisted the urge to put a hole through his bedroom wall. It wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Charles placed his head in his hands. Some of the things Raven said had made him think about things he’d been pushing away the last couple of weeks; the thing about college in particular.

He _did_ want to go back to England once he finished school. He had loved it there as a child; the way of life, the people, even the bloody rain. He’d been back a few times in his teenage years, although it’d never been enjoyable. He’d been ordered around by Kurt to do this and do that, never actually being able to go and see the country like he had wanted to.

And then, of course, there was Oxford. It’d always been a bit of a dream.

Charles groaned again, he couldn’t really imagine leaving Erik at this point, didn’t think he could. He hated himself for it.

\---

“Was that really necessary?”

Raven glared at her boyfriend, “Are you on his side?”

“I’m not on anyone’s side.” Azazel sighed. “It just seems like you _really_ hurt him.”

“But it’s true,” Raven whispered, “What I said. It’s true.

Azazel grabbed her hand and pulled her down gently, so she was sitting on the couch next to him. “How would you know?”

“Because. When I was,” Raven cleared her throat and shook her head. “It’s what happened to me.”

**\---**

**Do you want me to come in?**

_It’ll probably only make things worse._

**I’m waiting out front.**

_I’ll be down in a sec._

Charles sighed and stood from his bed, making his way downstairs to leave. He kept his head down when he walked into the room Azazel and Raven were still in, silently damming the house’s floor plan for making it necessary to walk through the room to leave.

“Charles.”

He didn’t answer.

“What are you going to do?”

Charles glanced at her for a second, “I don’t know,” he started, voice heavy with sarcasm, “Maybe sleep with my boyfriend so he can leave me quicker.”

“Charles,” Raven replied, still angry, “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Sure.”

“You need to seriously think about it.”

“Mmhm.”

“ _Charles._ ”

“Goodbye.”

\---

“Sit with me?” Charles asked from his spot on the couch, hands reaching out as if to grab the other man.

Erik smiled faintly at him, grabbing Charles’ hands and bringing them up to his mouth, placing soft kisses on his knuckles. “Do you want anything?” he murmured.

Charles shook his head.

“Alright,” Erik said quietly, moving to sit next to Charles and pulling the boy into his lap once he had. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

Charles stayed quiet.

“So,” the older man mumbled, hand rubbing comforting lines up and down Charles’ spine. “Not good?”

Charles sighed and relaxed into Erik’s body, head resting against the older man’s shoulder. “He’s just going to fuck you and then leave you,” Charles mimicked, hand grabbing Erik’s.

“She said that?” Erik asked, hand stilling.

“Between other things.”

“You have to be fucking kidding me,” Erik stated, eyebrow raised. “Who _says that_ to their own bloody brother?”

“Raven, apparently. I knew she’d be pissed off but _that,_ I mean,” Charles paused and shook his head as if to clear his mind.

“Sounds like she’s bitter about someone,” Erik mumbled to himself and held Charles a bit tighter. “You know what she’s saying isn’t true, don’t you?”

“I guess so. Raven saying it has kind of just,” Charles shrugged, “Brought back the doubt.”

Erik frowned and kissed the boy’s forehead, “Charles, it’s not true.”

“Okay.”

Erik shook his head, hand reaching up to grab Charles’ face. “I want you to believe me,” Erik said, turning Charles’ face so he was looking him in the eye. “It’s not true.”

“Okay,” Charles said again, smiling. “I believe you.”

“Good,” Erik kissed him softly. “Good.”

\---

Charles looked down and laughed at himself, "As ridiculous as this probably looks, I'm really comfortable."  
   
Erik looked up from his spot on the bed, eyes widening as he noticed Charles. His skin was still tinged pink from the hot shower he'd just had; his still damp hair was hanging in front of his face, sticking to his forehead. The younger man had one of his oversized shirts on, which on Charles' small frame reached mid-thigh – and oh how the sight of his partner in his clothes had always turned him on. To top it off, he wasn't wearing any pants – at least not any visible ones – revealing strong, pale legs that made Erik's mouth go dry.  
   
Erik cleared his throat and banished any thoughts of those legs wrapped around his waist – they weren't appropriate for the circumstances, much to his dismay. "I'd say you look far from ridiculous, my darling."  
   
Charles smiled at him, "Really?"  
   
He shook his head, pulling down the covers next to him as an invite for the boy to get in his bed. "Really," he said, grabbing Charles and holding him close. "I'd say along the lines of adorable, beautiful, edible..."  
   
Charles sniggered and hid his face against Erik's chest, "Edible?"  
   
"Amongst other things."  
   
"Certainly never been called that before."  
   
Erik's hand ran gently through Charles' hair, "We can try that out another time, though." He kissed Charles on the top of his head softly, "Right now, all I want is for you to get some sleep."  
   
"Amongst other things," Charles mumbled against Erik's bare chest, grinning tiredly as he felt the other man shake softly with laughter. ---

You should have done this a while ago, you realise."  
   
"I know, but I forgot about it. I got you something a while ago."  
   
"You may not find anything."  
   
"I can try."  
   
"Mmhm," Charles hummed. "Do you usually celebrate Christmas?"  
   
"Not really," Erik admitted. "Emma and I are just used to getting presents for each other."  
   
"Hanukah?"  
   
"I used to," Erik shifted in the driving seat, "Not so much anymore, though. Not since the accident."  
   
"Oh."  
   
"It's alright," Erik turned his head and smiled. "Now, what do you think I'll be able to find for Emma on Christmas Eve?"  
   
\---  
   
"Do we need to do any more shopping?" Raven asked.  
   
"No idea," Azazel replied, face scrunching up as coffee burned down his throat.  
   
"I think we do," Raven sighed. "Remind me to not leave things till last minute next year."  
   
Azazel smiled, "How do we get there?"  
   
"We can take Charles' car."  
   
Azazel raised an eyebrow, "You sure that's a good idea?"  
   
"He's not here to use it, is he?"  
   
"Well, no. But maybe it's not--"  
   
"We'll leave in an hour."   
   
\---  
   
"What makeup do you think she wears?"  
   
Charles looked at Erik oddly, "How am I supposed to know? You're the best friend."  
   
Erik shrugged, "I feel as if I _should_ know, but I haven't a clue."  
   
"Something else, then?"  
   
Erik's eyes scanned the half empty shelf in front of him. "What else? The woman has everything she wants."  
   
"I doubt that."  
   
"We could do perfume," Erik straightened up and looked over at Charles. "Perfume usually works."  
   
"Do you know what she wears?"  
   
Erik sighed and had a pained look on his face, "It smells like weird fruit?"  
   
"Wonderful, Erik. That really narrows it down."  
   
"Charles," Erik whined, dragging the word out. "Gay or not, I'm not the kind of person who knows this stuff."  
   
Charles laughed at the other man, "Clothes?"  
   
"That might work."  
   
"Please tell me you know her size."  
   
“No,” Erik smirked at him, "But her pants usually fit you."  
   
"No," Charles said immediately. "No, no, no, a thousand times no. I am _not_ walking around the shops with you on Christmas Eve trying on women's clothing."  
   
"Why not? You look good in them."  
   
Charles glared at him, "That's beside the point. I'll never live it down if anyone I know sees me in them."  
   
"Point them out and I'll scare them away."  
   
Charles couldn't help the laughter that bubbled in his chest, "I don't doubt you could, Erik, but let's not try."  
   
Erik mock pouted and placed his arm over Charles' shoulders, pushing him slightly in another direction. "Please?"  
   
"I'm already pushing it, you know. I have no idea how I’m going to explain why I'm here with you if someone sees."  
   
"Tell them it's none of their business. Or the truth."  
   
"Maybe."  
   
"I doubt we'll get seen, anyway. Everyone's in a rush to get their shit and get out as quickly as they can."  
   
Charles pressed against Erik as an evidently pissed off lady with a pram hurried past them. "Probably," he smiled, "But still. I doubt much would even fit."  
   
"We could try."  
   
"Is this some kind of kink?"  
   
Erik chuckled, "Not previously, but it seems you do things to me other people have failed to."  
   
"I don't know if I should be worried or flattered."  
   
"Flattered."  
   
"If you say so."  
   
They walked in comfortable silence, strolling through the overly crowded shops while Erik looked for a store that had clothes he thought Emma would like. There were families and couples talking and arguing loudly at every corner of every store, the stress of leaving things till last minute palpable. They were pushed and shoved far too many times for Charles' liking but the constant, warm presence of Erik next to him made it worth it.  
   
"Here," Erik nodded his head in the direction of a clothing store. "We can at least compare sizes."  
   
Over an hour of shopping, six different female clothing stores, countless amounts of odd looks and an almost heated make out session in a changing room later, Erik had found what he wanted. Charles had eventually caved in and tried on an outfit or two, just to make sure ‘it would fit well’. Erik had eventually settled on a close-fitting, pristine white outfit that had, in Charles' opinion, looked ridiculous on him but would look great on Emma.  
   
"What now?" Erik asked, shifting the bags in his hand. "Do you need to do any shopping?"  
   
"Unlike you," Charles said, "I was prepared and finished mine weeks ago."  
   
Erik's laugh came out in a huff of air as he grabbed Charles by his sleeve and pulled him closer as another angry couple hurried past them. "If I had more people to buy things for, I'd have done it earlier. I'm nowhere near as stressed as some people in here."  
   
"Their stress is stressing me out, though. So maybe we should go home."  
   
"Home?"  
   
Charles blushed, realising the implication, "Your apartment."  
   
Erik grinned at him, eyes bright and teeth showing, "Come on, then."  
   
\---  
   
"Calm down, sweetheart. Yelling at people won't help find a spot."  
   
Raven glared at her boyfriend, "It might scare them away."  
   
Azazel laughed, "I don't know about that."  
   
Raven stuck her tongue out, turning down another street to see if she could find parking. "It's not even twelve yet, why are so many people already here?"  
   
"Same reason as we are, to get in and out before the rush."  
   
"Should have left earlier," Raven mumbled, scanning the roads.  
   
\---  
   
"Why does Emma close the cafe during the holidays?" Charles asked as they walked down the near empty side street. They'd parked Erik's car away from the shopping centre to avoid the crowd.  
   
"She says it costs more to run it during Christmas than it's worth," Erik shrugged. "Doesn't make enough money."  
   
"Understandable, I suppose."  
   
"Why," Erik sidestepped a puddle, "Having withdrawals?"  
   
"No," Charles laughed, linking his arm with Erik's.  
   
Erik looked at him, his eyebrows raised.  
   
"Maybe a little. I need something to do with my time."  
   
"It’s alright, I think I might be, too," Erik admitted. "Or maybe I just miss the free Wi-Fi and good coffee."  
   
"It's good to know you think highly of my barista skills."  
   
Erik laughed, pulling the younger man closer and kissing his forehead. "You seem to succeed in everything."  
   
Charles smiled softly, "I can only hope."  
   
They walked down the street quietly, enjoying the calm atmosphere compared to what they'd just been in. Charles kept his head down, watching his feet as he walked and trying to avoid the cracks in the pavement. He stopped abruptly when he finally did look up, causing Erik to turn and look at him questionably.  
   
"That's my car."  
   
"What?"  
   
"The one that just turned into the street. It's mine," he clarified, his eyes widening when he saw who was inside. "And that's my sister driving it."  
   
Erik looked again, spotting the dark haired guy and blonde girl inside. There was no way to avoid seeing them. "Shit."  
   
"Don't freak out," Charles said. "Only one of us can freak out at a time and right now it's me."  
   
“I’m not freaking out,” Erik shook his arm free and grabbed Charles' hand. "Are you okay?"  
   
"Not really," Charles admitted. "She's still going to be angry, so seeing you won't help."  
   
"I could pretend I don't know you."  
   
"No," Charles shook his head. " _No_. It's not as if we have to stay and chat."  
   
"Are you sure?"  
   
Charles nodded, squeezing Erik's hand as he saw his car park behind Erik's. _Of all spots in the world, it had to be that one,_ Charles thought. "Come on," he tugged Erik's hand and started walking down the street again. He _could_ do this.  
   
Charles walked quickly, a habit he had while nervous, as he felt his heart beat within his chest. They were going to get out of the car any second now. There was no way they wouldn't see him and Erik. He stood even closer Erik, gripping the other man's hand tightly and leaning into his body.  
   
"Calm down, darling," Erik murmured. "Everything will be fine."  
   
Charles hummed, "We may have different definitions of 'fine'."  
   
Charles felt Erik smile against his forehead. "Don't work yourself up," he said as they reached the car.  
   
"Too late," Charles mumbled, straightening up and watching as Raven and Azazel stepped out of his car.  
   
Raven had a surprised look on her face when she turned to them. "Hello," she said, dragging the world out.  
   
"You could have asked."  
   
"What?"  
   
"My car. You could have asked if you could take it."  
   
Raven sighed, "You've never had an issue with me taking it before."  
   
"Yeah, but the last time you took it, it came back smashed. You should have asked."  
   
"Right, well, it didn't really seem like you wanted to talk to me."  
   
"Wonder what gave you that idea," Charles said, voice think with sarcasm as he let go of Erik's hand and crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
   
Raven rolled her eyes and turned to look at Erik, eyes trailing over his body and face. "So you're the pervert?"  
   
" _Raven_!" Charles said, angry.  
   
Erik, on the other hand, laughed and leant against his car. "If you want to call it that."  
   
"I do."  
   
Erik smiled sweetly, head tilting to one side, "And you're the obnoxious older sister, then?"  
   
Raven's eyes narrowed and she looked back at Charles. "I didn't think you'd pick someone so rude."  
   
Charles opened his mouth to reply but Erik beat him to it.  
   
"I'm only rude," he started, ignoring the glare Azazel was sending his way, "To people who are rude to me."  
   
Charles snorted. Erik grinned at him. They both knew that was a lie.  
   
"I don't know about you, but most people consider calling someone a pervert rude."  
   
"And most people consider a thirty year old sleeping with a teenager a pervert," Raven shot back.  
   
"Then it's a good think we haven't slept together yet," Charles said.

"I--"  
   
"No. I was excited for this visit. I haven't seen you in ages, Raven, and I missed you. So much," he paused, sighing. "I thought you'd be annoyed, yes, but I also thought you'd be happy that I was finally, _finally_ happy here. I don't want to be around you if you're going to act the way you are."  
   
"Charles--"  
   
Charles shook his head, reaching his hand out and grabbing the car keys out of Erik's pocket. The other three watched him as he unlocked the car and got inside, letting the door shut loudly.  
   
"This is your fault," Raven started, looking at Erik against. "He's never acted like this before."  
   
"Because he's never had reason to."  
   
Raven shook her head, "Nope."  
   
Erik sighed, "What issue is so big that it overshadows his happiness?"  
   
"You're ten years older than _me_ ; that makes you twelve years older than him."  
   
"So?"  
   
"Do you see nothing wrong with that?" Raven asked, eyes wide.  
   
"No," Erik replied calmly, "Can't say that I do. I don't see why it matters if the relationship's consensual. Which it is."  
   
"Well I have an issue with it."  
   
"Then it's a good thing I'm not dating you, isn't it?"  
   
"Charles doesn't understand--"  
   
"Charles understands perfectly, actually." Erik paused, squaring his shoulders and standing at his full height. "I apologise for whoever it was that fucked you over--"  
   
"No--"  
   
"Because _obviously_ ," Erik didn't let her cut him off, "You've had some issues with someone older, perhaps my age, in the past and seem to think the same is going to happen to him. But I have no intention of hurting him. I have no intention of leaving him after I fuck him, as you so eloquently put it." Erik sighed, looking Raven in the eyes. "I care about him; more than I have about anyone in _years_ and that scares the shit out of me. I don't want to hurt him – in any way, shape or form – and you being angry because I'm older is hurting him. So please, _please_ sort out any bloody issues you have and let him be happy."  
   
Erik waited for Raven to reply but the girl didn't say anything. He shrugged, opening the door to the back seat and placing his bags inside.  
   
"I'll drop him off later tonight," Erik continued quietly. "He won't admit it at the moment, but he's been looking forward to spending Christmas with you."  
   
"Fine," Raven mumbled.  
   
Erik sighed again and nodded. "Nice to meet you," he said and smiled at Azazel before turning his back on them and opening the driver's door. "Ready to go, darling? I'm starving and there's this pasta at home I think you'll like."

\---

Charles ran hand through his hair, letting it fall in front of his eyes. "I don't want to go back," he said, looking over at Erik from his spot on the kitchen bench.  
   
"You do," Erik replied, rolling over on the couch so he was facing Charles.  
   
"No."  
   
"Secretly."  
   
Charles smiled, "I suppose I can't ask you to come with me?"  
   
"Something tells me that's not the best idea."  
   
"I think it's a good idea."  
   
"And _I_ think you need to sort this out with your sister on your own first," Erik said gently.  
   
Charles mock pouted and got up from his spot, moving towards Erik. "I'm comfortable here, though."  
   
"I'm glad," Erik stated and reached his hand out, grabbing Charles' arm and pulling the younger man on top of him.  
   
Charles laughed softly, landing on Erik with a quiet _oof_. "What are you going to do tomorrow?"  
   
Erik reached a hand up and ran it through Charles' hair. "Emma invited me over to continue our annual tradition of watching shitty Christmas movies."  
   
Charles grinned, "I swear you don't have any other friends."  
   
"I do."  
   
"Uh huh."  
   
"They're just not as important."  
   
"Mmm."  
   
"And annoy me too often for me to spend much time with them."  
   
"And that," Charles said, "Makes it believable."  
   
Erik chuckled, moving his hand to rub circles to the small of Charles' back. "You're very lucky, you know. I don't keep many people around for more than a few weeks."  
   
"I'm flattered," Charles said sarcastically.  
   
Erik leant his head forward and kissed Charles softly, "As you should be."  
   
"Mmhm," Charles hummed, kissing Erik again, a slow, lazy press of their mouths together.  
   
Charles smiled at the feel of Erik's lips under his, soft and warm. He didn't think kissing could have felt so good. He parted his lips, letting Erik's tongue slip into his mouth, sliding against the back of his teeth and the roof of his mouth. Erik reached a hand up to tangle in his hair and Charles moaned quietly  
   
Charles pulled back, turning his head to the side and letting his mouth rest against Erik's face, soft puffs of air coming from his mouth. "Erik," he said, and kissed him again, gentle and slow; they weren't desperate, not yet.  
   
Erik's sharp teeth caught on Charles bottom lip and he moaned again, hand reaching up to rest gently against Erik's jaw. Erik sucked on his bottom lip before pulling back, hand trailing over Charles' face. "Have I ever told you how much I enjoy the taste of your mouth?"  
   
Charles laughed softly and shifted his body above Erik's, leaning down for another kiss. He moved his hand to grab at the hair near the nape of Erik's neck as their kisses got more heated. Erik turns his head, choosing to bite down Charles' throat. Charles felt Erik move beneath him, felt the other man move his hands to grab at his hips and opened his legs, shifting his body so he was straddling the older man. He whimpered when he felt the hot and heavy pressure of Erik's prick against his hip and pulled back, a glint in his eyes.  
   
"I want to try something," he murmured, nervous but excited at the same time.

Erik hummed and pulled Charles shirt front the waistband of his trousers, tugging it up to press against Charles' soft skin. "And that is?"  
   
Charles leaned in, smirking, his mouth brushing against Erik's ear had he whispered. "I want," he breathed, breath warm and wet against Erik's skin, "To feel what it's like to have someone else's fingers inside of me." Despite the blush that coloured his skin, Charles was quite proud he managed to get it out without stuttering. He’d wondered long before he and Erik had even met, and was too eager o pass up the opportunity now.  
   
Charles felt a shudder ripple though Erik's body beneath him and smiled to himself. "You're," his voice sounded strangled, "You're sure?"  
   
Charles hummed, looking at Erik in the eye through his lashes. "Bet yours feel better than mine."  
   
Erik breathed heavily beneath him, and Charles moaned as he felt the other man's hands scrape against his skin, "You're going to be the death of me."  
   
"I promise to make it an enjoyable death."  
   
"I don't doubt that," Erik said, capturing Charles lips in another kiss.

\---

"You could come in," Charles said. He didn't move from his seat in the car.  
   
"No," Erik said, gently. "Sort it out and tell me what happens."  
   
"I don't want to get yelled at again."  
   
Erik sighs, shifting so he's turned toward Charles. He reached a hand out and placed it against the back of Charles' neck, hand moving gently. "If you really, really want to, I'll come and get you again, darling. I just think you should sort it out and spend Christmas with her."  
   
Charles leaned into Erik's hand, slowly letting out a puff of air.  
   
"I know you've missed her. There's no need to fight the entire time she's here. Especially about me, darling."  
   
Charles nodded, a slight shift of his head. "Okay."  
   
"Call if you need anything."  
   
Charles nodded again and smiled, "Kiss for good luck?"  
   
Erik laughed quietly, leaning over the middle of the car and kissing the younger man gently.  
   
\---  
   
"So."  
   
"So," Charles repeated.  
   
"Want to say anything?"  
   
"Not really."  
   
Raven raised an eyebrow at her younger brother, "Really?"  
   
"What do _you want_ me to say?"  
   
"I want you to apologise."  
   
"For what?" Charles said, crossing his arms across his chest.  
   
"Running off without permission--"  
   
"I don't _need_ your permission to do anything--"  
   
"For being rude--"  
   
“ _I_ was rude--"  
   
"For acting immaturely--"  
   
"You're one to talk--"  
   
"Look," Raven said sharply. "Stop interrupting me when in trying to talk to you."  
   
Charles glared.  
   
"I don't get to see you very often anymore--"  
   
"And whose fault is that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"  
   
"It means," Charles said between gritted teeth, "That since you left, you've made no effort to actually keep in touch with me."  
   
"Yes I have."  
   
"No," Charles whispered and wrapped his arms further around his small frame. "You haven't, Raven. I'm always the one to put in the effort and it sucks. You've been so busy you haven't bothered trying to keep regular contact with me. We've barely spoken since you left, if you haven't realised."  
   
"Charles--"  
   
Charles shook his head, "I _hate_ living in this house. I _hate_ living with them, and without you here I don't see the point. I've spent more time outside of this house in the past two years than I have in it. It's about fucking time I found someone to spend it with."  
   
"And you couldn't have picked someone your own age?"  
   
"I don't like anyone my own age. I like _him_. I," Charles paused, "I really, _really_ like him."  
   
"Then we're obviously seeing different people. Because there is no way in hell that the arrogant, obnoxious, disrespectful asshole I met today is someone you would go for," Raven stated and stood up.  
   
"He's not disrespectful, or arrogant, for that matter."  
   
"Did you hear what he said to me?"  
   
"You called him a pervert after being in his presence for less than five minutes, Raven. I'd be annoyed too. I _am_ annoyed," Charles groaned. "Stop looking for a reason to be angry with me and just let me be happy. I want to have a good time while you're here, not argue. If all you want to do is insult me and my life choices, then I see no reason to be around you."  
   
Raven stared at him for a long moment, letting out a long breath. "Can't you see that I'm worried?"  
   
"You don't have anything to be worried about."  
   
"I do, how much do you even _know_ about him?"  
   
"More than you think."  
   
"Charles," Raven sighed.  
   
"Even if it is a mistake," Charles continued, sighing in resign. "Even if everything turns to shit, this is my mistake to make, Raven. Leave me be. Please."  
   
Raven ran a hand over her face, "Fine," she said and pulled Charles into a hug. "I suppose he's alright if you're willing to make such a big fuss defending him."  
   
Charles hugged her back, breathing in her scent and laughing into her shoulder. "You can meet him properly before you leave. He's more than alright."  
   
"I suppose he has nice arms," she grinned and linked her arm, pulling Charles out of the room and towards the kitchen where Azazel was.   
   
Charles nodded, giggling. "The arms are good, I'll admit, but they're nothing compared to the rest of him."  
   
\---  
   
 _Everything's alright now. We worked it out, I think._  
   
 **Just as I knew you would. I'm glad; I don't like seeing you upset.  
**    
 _Mmhm. You still have to meet them properly otherwise they won't be satisfied._  
   
 **I look forward to it.  
**    
 _You shouldn't._  
   
 **If I can handle you and Emma, I can handle anyone.  
**    
 _Speaking of, make sure to tell me if she likes the outfit._  
   
 **If she doesn't I'll keep it and you can wear it. We can explore my kinks.  
**    
 _I am not getting dressed in that again.  
_    
 **Fine, but I'll always have the photos and fantasies.**

 _Never doing anything for you, ever. Go to sleep.  
_    
 **Sure, sure. Only if you do.**  
   
 _I'm going now. I need sleep if I plan on getting through tomorrow.  
_    
 **Goodnight, my darling. I'll text you tomorrow, make sure you enjoy your day.  
**    
 _Goodnight, Erik._


	13. Passing the Test

Charles changed his mind; this certainly wasn't a good idea.

At all. In any possible way. Ever.

No one had spoken in what felt like forever, and Raven had barely looked away from Erik in the past fifteen minutes. He could tell Erik was uncomfortable; he was tense and rigid in the spot next to Charles. He probably hadn't had to meet any family members of a partner for a long time.

Charles ignored the bit of shame and guilt that came with that thought.

Charles bounced his leg up and down to help his nerves, slowly letting out a long breath. “Well,” he said, breaking the long silence. “This has been great-”

“Charles,” Raven cut him off with a roll of her eyes. “Don't be an idiot.”

“It's not like we'd miss out on much,” he muttered.

“You questioned Azazel until he passed the little brother--”

“Big brother--”

“--test. It's only fair for me to have a turn.”

“For that you would need to actually talk, we're lacking in that department at the moment.”

Erik laughed quietly and leant forward in his seat, hand reaching out to rest on Charles' knee. “Stop the jittering, liebling. There's no need to be so nervous.”

“There kind of is.”

“No there isn't, Charles,” Raven said.

“Well hurry up and do whatever it is you need to, ask him whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?”

“Within reason.”

“Why?” Raven asked, looking directly at Erik.

Erik looked confused, “Why what?”

“Why him?” she clarified. “And I don't want some bullshit like 'he's everything I want and more'. I want a real answer.”

“Okay,” Erik cleared his throat, not looking at Charles. “At first, if I'm completely honest, I kept pursuing him because he always looked adorable when I did it. There wasn't an intention of a relationship, not a proper one, anyway,” he half sighed, half laughed. “That changed rather quickly. Incredibly quickly, actually, that was scary because I'm not necessarily known to be very sentimental.”

Charles snorted, “Got that right.”

Erik grinned at him, “Anyway, after a while I found myself asking Emma, Charles' boss who I've known for years, when he was working so I could come in and have the chance to talk to him more.”

“Really?” Charles asked, surprised.

Erik nodded his head, “It was a little pathetic, really.”

“A little cute, actually,” he paused, “And a tad creepy, but still cute.”

“Stop interrupting and let him talk, Charles,” Raven said.

Charles rolled his eyes and sank further into the lounge.

“Keep going.”

Erik cleared his throat, rubbing his hands along the denim covering his thighs. “Emma picked up on my feelings, I guess, and started giving him breaks when I was there. He always came to me during them, or I called him over, and we'd talk and it was amazing because I was going through a boring phase of my life and Charles was new and exciting and I wanted to find out as much as I possibly could,” he paused and let out a breath. “I don't know how, or when, but I grew more and more infatuated with him; like I mean I was crushing harder than a teenage girl so when we finally, _finally_ got together I was ecstatic, and I still am. Nothing but him not wanting me there would make me leave.”

Raven looked at Charles and sighed. “Who else knows?”

“About us?”

Raven hummed.

“Emma.”

“That's it?”

“Unless Charles has told anyone else,” Erik turned his head and looked at Charles, his voice questioning.

Charles shook his head, “Maybe soon.”

“Why wasn't I the first to know?”

“Because,” Charles said, “I was scared you'd get all angry and disappointed.”

“Alright,” she sighed.

“Alright?”

“I approve,” she clarified, “At least until he fucks up.”

“Thank you for having so much faith in me,” Erik said, voice full of sarcasm.

Raven rolled her eyes, “I'm going to make dinner.”

\---

“I have another question I want to ask now that he isn't here.”

“What is it?”

“Well,” said Raven, shifting closer to Azazel. “Charles is a smart boy, incredibly smart.”

“Your point?”

“He's going to go to college. I'm not going to let him give up his dream for some guy--”

“I agree with you.”

“--You're not going to stop him--”

“Raven.”

“--From doing what he's always--”

“Raven!” Erik said, louder.

“--wanted,” she stopped short, looking up. “What?”

“ _I agree with you_.”

“You do?” she asked, disbelief showing on her face.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Erik raised his eyebrows at her, “Why wouldn't I? Education is something I've always valued. I went to college, my family went broke, but I went, and Charles should too.”

“Oh.”

“And you're right, he is smart. He'll achieve in whatever he wants to do.”

“So, out of curiosity, what are you going to do when he does go?” Azazel asked.

Erik shrugged, “I have a portable job.”

“So you'd follow?”

“If we both wanted to, yeah.”

“But,” Raven cut in, “Charles doesn't want to go to a college here. He wants to go back to England.”

“I'm aware of that.”

“You are?”

Erik hummed, “He hasn't told me, but it's kind of obvious from the way he talks about it.”

“And you'd still follow? You'd leave everything behind and just go somewhere you done know, where you don't know anyone?”

“I grew up in Germany, Raven. I have family, my only living family, living near England. It'd be good for me,” Erik said, smiling softly. “The only thing I'd miss is from here is Emma, but it'd be alright.”

“Well,” Raven let out a long breath, “This changes things.”

“Why?”

“I didn't want my little brother to give up on his dream, or get his heart broken. This means I can like you a bit more.”

Erik grinned, “I've passed the older sister test then?”

“Little sister test,” Charles' voice came from the doorway.

Erik turned his head, eyes darkening when he caught sight of him. Charles stood in the doorframe, large, dark red shirt falling to his mid-thigh with the sleeves reaching halfway down his arms. His hair was still damp from the previous shower, pushed away from his face and little droplets of water could be seen in the light against his face and neck. Charles, to Erik, was always attractive, but he always managed to do _something_ to Erik while looking like that.

“I'm the older sibling, Charles.”

Charles rolled his eyes and grinned at Erik, “You passed a test?”

“So it seems,” he reached a hand out in Charles direction, beckoning him closer. “Is that my shirt?”

“Nope,” Charles walked closer, stopping in front of Erik.

“I think it is,” he grabbed Charles' hands, fingers trailing over the still warm skin. “I think I know where half of my wardrobe has gone.”

“I don't steal your clothes.”

“Uh huh, that's why a surprising amount of them have disappeared since I let you into my apartment.”

“They're more comfortable to sleep in.”

Erik hummed and moved his hands to Charles' waist, “Shouldn't you have pants on?”

 

“I couldn't find any I wanted to wear.”

“It's the middle of winter, Charles.”

“And no one wants to see your pale ass,” Raven cut in, throwing one of the lounge pillows at him.

Charles tried, and failed, to catch it, turning around to sick his tongue out at her. “I wouldn't say no one.”

“Well we don't,” she replied, motioning to Azazel.

“Wouldn't expect you to. You're my sister, and Azazel doesn't seem to play for my team.”

“You’re right there,” Azazel agreed.

“Erik, on the other hand,” Charles smirked and tugged on Erik's hands, pulling the other man up. “Doesn't really mind my 'pale ass' as you eloquently put it.”

 

Erik chuckled low in his throat, getting up to stand behind him.

Charles tipped his head back and smiled up at him, “Come upstairs?”

Erik hummed, kissing Charles' forehead softly as the younger man escorted him out of the room.

“Sickening!” Raven yelled after them. “The both of you are sickening!”

\---

“Charles?” Raven called as she walked into her younger brother's room, stopping short when she caught sight of Erik laying spread out across Charles' bed. “Uh,” she trailed off.

Heaving a sigh, Erik sat up and smiled, “He's brushing his teeth.”

Raven nodded, “Are you staying here, then?”

“If he wants me to.”

“I do,” came the muffled reply as Charles walked into the room from the joint bathroom, toothbrush shoved in his mouth and face showing traces of toothpaste. “If you want to,” he mumbled.

Erik nodded, trying to hold back a laugh.

Charles nodded in return and smiled, toothpaste dripping from his mouth onto his chin.

“Ew,” Raven drawled, face scrunched up in disgust. “Go to the bathroom and do that, Charles. No one wants to see that.”

“Oh, c'mon,” Erik laughed. “He looks pretty cute to me.”

Charles made a noise of agreement; toothbrush still shoved in his mouth and stuck out a hand to high-five Erik.

“You two are ridiculous.”

Charles smirked and ran into the bathroom, reemerging a few second later with his face clear. “Maybe, but it works.”

“Does it?”

Charles hummed and half-jumped on the bed, torso half on top of Erik's lap as he moved so he was able to look at Raven. “I look pretty and he tells me what I want to hear.”

Erik laugh again, hands grabbing Charles' bare calves and massaging them slightly as he moved into a more comfortable position. “It's a bit more complex than that, I'd say.”

“I suppose,” Charles agreed. “I mean, there's some cuddling in there.”

“The occasional declaration of feelings.”

“A bit of banter.”

“Sometimes we even kiss,” Erik said, smirking, as his hands made their way higher up Charles' legs.

“Not to mention the little bit of jealously on your part.”

“I do not get _jealous_.”

Charles turned his head and raised an eyebrow at him. “No, not at all,” he said, voice thick with sarcasm.

Erik rolled his eyes and Charles laughed, looking over at Raven again. “Anyway, what'd you want?”

“To know if he was staying here.”

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed, “No funny business.”

Charles snorted, “Sorry, but it's payback time.”

“Payback for what?”

Charles gave her a pointed look, and, in a high-pitch voice mimicking that of Raven, said “Oh, yes, hard-”

“Shh!” Raven exclaimed, blushing. “I didn't know you could hear us,” she mumbled.

“You're room is directly above mine.”

“Right, well, I'll take that into consideration next time.”

“Sure you will.”

Raven rolled her eyes, “No funny business, Charles.”

“Uh huh,” he smiled sweetly, “Sure.”

Raven shook her head and left, muttering under her breath.

\---

“This is so ridiculous,” Erik whispered, grinning.

Charles pressed his face against Erik's shoulder in an attempt to muffle his laughter. Still clothed, they were lying on the bed together, making too-loud moaning noises and moving so the bed creaked in an attempt to freak Raven out.

“Shh,” he mumbled against Erik's skin. “They're talking.”

\---

“Oh my god.”

_Oh, god, Erik._

_“Oh my god.”_

“I feel like I shouldn't be hearing this.”

“You?” Raven exclaimed. “He's my _brother_. _I_ shouldn't be hearing this. I shouldn't be hearing anything like this from him.”

“We could leave or something, if you want? Go for a walk. They can't do it all night.”

“Don't say they, you'll jinx it.”

Azazel smiled, standing up from the bed and reached a hand out, “Come on, we'll go for a walk.”

“But it's cold outside.”

_Please, please, more, Erik._

Raven grimaced and grabbed Azazel's hand, “Actually, let's go.”

Azazel kissed her forehead and grabbed a spare coat hanging in the wardrobe and handed it to Raven.

\---

“Was that a door?”

“I think so,” Charles murmured. “I think they're leaving.”

“Mission accomplished, then?”

“Mmhm, now we can _actually_ do something.”

Erik smirked and leant down to press his mouth against Charles', “What'd you have in mind?”

\---

“I'm going to yell at him tomorrow,” Raven said as the door shut behind them.

Azazel grabbed her hand, “He's only paying us back.”

“Yeah, but we didn't know he would hear. Charles knows perfectly well that we would be able to.”

“Who knew you'd _both_ be so loud.”

Raven glared at him, “Not funny.”

Azazel just chuckled, pulling her closer to keep them both warm.

\---

Charles leant up as Erik captured his mouth, submitting to the other man as his body pressed down against him. Pure arousal shot through Charles as Erik bit his lip roughly, pushing his tongue into Charles' mouth and making the boy moan. It was a bit of a secret, but Charles enjoyed it when Erik was rougher, more dominant. It made him feel oddly safe like nothing else ever had, not to mention it turned him on like mad.

Erik moved and placed a line of biting kissed down Charles' neck and moved his hands to the hem of his jeans, making quick work of the buttons and shimming out of them without a little difficulty. His shirt and underwear soon followed, as did Charles', and soon enough Erik was placing kisses and licks to Charles' abdomen. Erik grabbed Charles' cock, stroking it as he kissed the head gently.

“Please,” Charles breathed. “Please, don't tease me, not now.”

Mere seconds later, Erik has engulfed Charles' prick, moaning quietly as it settled heavy against his tongue.

Charles sucked in a strangled breath, moaning loudly and drawing his legs up so his toes dug into the mattress and his knees were bent. “Fuck, Erik, _fuck_.”

Erik's mouth was warm and eager and Charles was pretty sure he'd never felt something so fucking incredible. Charles could see Erik, eyes shut and face showing complete bliss as he moved up and down Charles' cock, and it made everything so much more arousing. His body spasmed as Erik moaned around him, and his hips pushed up. One of his hands moved blindly to tangle in Erik's hair as he tried to get his cock as far down Erik's throat as he could.

Erik reached a hand out to Charles' mouth and pulled back, pressing two fingers against Charles' lips. “Suck,” he demanded.

Charles groaned and opened his mouth, taking the digits in as Erik took him in his mouth once more. He licked and sucked Erik's fingers as best as he could, his hand tightening its grip on Erik's hair. He opened his mouth when he felt the fingers were slicked enough, bits of saliva dripping onto his chin. Erik's fingers slid over his skin, rubbing gently at his asshole before it pressed in.

“Shit,” Charles breathed, lifting his hips. The action still caused a sharp burn, Charles wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it completely, but the pleasure was there.

Erik came back, leaning up to kiss him slowly. “Relax,” he murmured against Charles' lips, “It'll feel better.”

Charles let his head fall back and shit his eyes, making a humming sound.

Erik smiled and kissed Charles again as he moved his finger in and out of Charles slowly, reminding himself that Charles had barely done this with anyone but himself. He kissed the corner of the boy's mouth as he felt him push cautiously against his finger, and Erik pushed it in as much as he could, twisting and drawing it out slowly. He gradually sped up, marveling at the reaction he got from Charles.

“More,” the boy breathed.

“Are you sure?”

“Mmhm,” he pushed against Erik's hand, “Please?”

Dragging his mouth against Charles' jaw, he let the other finger slide in and slowly began to stretch him. “Feel good?” he whispered, nipping softly at Charles' jaw.

“Burns,” was the mumbled response, “But the good kind.”

“Good,” Erik sat back on his heels, watching as his fingers disappeared into Charles before reappearing. He moved his fingers in different angles, searching for the spot that would surely make Charles squirm with pleasure. It didn't take long, Charles positively screaming when he pressed against his prostate.

“Fuck,” he groaned out from under Erik, “ _Fuck_.”

“Not tonight,” Erik murmured, “I doubt you could handle it right now.”

He could tell the boy was close, could see and feel the body shaking underneath him. Lowering himself down, Erik took Charles' cock in his mouth again, relishing at the spasm that shook Charles' body and the string of foul, mostly incomprehensible words that came from his mouth. Instead of rubbing at Charles' prostrate, he pushed his fingers against it rapidly, moaning when Charles hips bucked up.

“Close, so close,” came the muffled voice above him. “Please, please, _oh_ , more.”

Erik complied, and hollowed his cheeks, pressing his fingers as hard as he dared against Charles. Charles became a moaning, incomprehensible mess as his orgasm hit him, giving a low shout as he felt Erik swallow everything he gave. Tugging on the man's hair when it became too much, Charles relaxed completely into the bed as Erik removed his hand and mouth, and leant up and kissed him chastely.

“I can tell you're still hard,” he mumbled into his arm, “But I'm not sure I'll be much help. I don't think I can move.”

Erik chuckled quietly, “Stay awake for a few more minutes for me,” was the reply before Erik had captured Charles' mouth once more.

He went to wrap his own hand around his cock, groaning when Charles did it instead, placing his hand on top. He rocked back and forth, grinding again Charles' hand and the boy's body. It didn't take long until he was biting down at the nape of Charles' neck, come covering both his and Charles' hands and stomachs.

He collapsed next to Charles, sagging into the bed and pulling the boy's back against his chest as Charles pulled the blankets up. They both relaxed into each other, eyes drifting shut and pleasantly sated.

Erik kissed Charles once more, softly against his forehead, with a murmured _goodnight, darling_ before they both let sleep overtake their bodies.

\---

 _Knock, knock._   

“Rise and shine, pretty boy,” Raven called through the door.

Charles groaned and hid his face further into Erik's shoulder, “Go away.”

“Come out, or I'll come in.”

“Ten minutes,” he yelled at her.

“One second more and I'm coming back up,” Raven warned before walking away.

Erik stretched and shifted, moaning quietly. “Morning,” he mumbled.

“Not getting up,” Charles replied, his mouth wet against Erik's skin.

“C'mon,” Erik whispered, running his hand through Charles' hair, “We need to eat.”

Charles groaned again and rolled over so he's half on top of Erik's chest, looking down at him. “I'd rather stay in bed with you.”

Erik trailed his hand from the back on Charles' head to the name of his neck, fingers gently tracing the black and purple bite mark he left. “Does it hurt?”

Charles leaned into the touch, “Not really, just if you press down on it.”

With some difficulty, Erik leant up and kissed Charles' cheek, “Let's put some clothes on, liebling. I don't really want your sister to come in here and see us like this.”

Charles pouted, “But I'm warm. And don't feel like moving.”

“If I promise to keep you warm will you do it?” Erik asked, amused.

“If you promise to carry me, too.”

\---

As it turned out, Erik didn't have to carry Charles; he just had to walk with the boy's back pressed against his chest, with his arms wrapped around Charles' waist because it 'kept the heat around them'.

Now, though, he was sitting in between Charles and Azazel, the latter asking him questions about his car and his sport preferences. Raven, surprisingly, joined in the conversation, offering opinions and asking questions. Charles, on the other hand, looked rather bored and was checking his phone every few minutes.

“This is too much man-talk for me,” he declared after ten minutes and stood up. “I'm gonna go upstairs.”

Erik looked up in surprise, “Do you want me to come?”

“Don't be an idiot,” Charles smiled. “I don't need company 24/7--”

“Could've fooled me,” Erik murmured.

Charles glared at him, “ _Besides_ , there's stuff I need to finish for school.” He bent down and kissed Erik’s cheek. “Come up when you stop talking about cars, and sport and stuff.”

“How do you not know anything about sport?” Raven asked, smirking at him.

Charles stuck his tongue out at her, “More important things to do,” he said just before walking out.

\---

 

Charles stared down at his phone and took a deep breath as he walked back into the living room.

“What's wrong?” Both Raven and Erik said in unison.

Charles jumped slightly and looked up at them. “Uh,” he trailed off, taking another deep breath. “Mum's doctor-”

“What happened?”

Charles sat next to Erik, the other man's arm immediately wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him closer. “Apparently her condition got worse,” he leant his head on Erik's shoulder, body curling towards the older man. “A lot worse.”

“How bad is it?” Raven asked quietly.

“Life expectancy has been cut short considerably,” he sighed. “They don't know how long, but,” he trailed off.

“Well,” Raven said, “Shit.”

Charles lent further into Erik. “Should I feel guilty for being the tiniest bit relieved?”

“Nope,” Raven replied, “I'm the same, just didn't want to say it in case you weren't.”

Charles smiled at her, “Can't wait until I have to tell Kurt.”

“Just don’t tell him.”

“And endure the punishment when he finds out about it and realises I didn’t tell him?” Charles asked, “No, thank you.”

Raven grimaced, “She'll probably leave everything to him.”

Charles hummed, “Of course she will.”

“You got Dad's inheritance, yeah?”

Charles nodded.

“That'll be more than enough to live off, so it doesn't really matter.”

“Still,” Charles said, “I'd rather Kurt, and Cain, not get anything.”

“And I'd rather them rot in hell, but we're not going to get what we want any time soon.”

“Good point, that.”

\---

“You okay?” Erik asked quietly.

Charles nodded, “I think so, there are just a lot of emotions running through my head. But it'll be fine.”

“I'm here if you need me.”

“I know,” Charles smiled and placed a lingering kiss to Erik's lips, “And I'll probably take up the offer when it gets worse.”

Erik reached his hand out to tuck stray hair behind Charles' ear, nothing the length. “As long as you talk about it at some point. I don’t want you to brood.”

“I do not _brood_.”

Erik smiled and placed a kiss to the stop of Charles' hair, taking the boy into his arms.

\---

“Emma?”

“You need to come here. Now.”

“Why?”

“It's an emergency.”

“What kind of emergency?” Charles looked up from his book, worried. Erik waved a hand to let him know it was okay, “An emergency for you could be anything from a clipped nail to almost burning your apartment down.”

“A serious emergency.”

“Again, a serious emergency for you could be that a guy you slept with one time six years ago got a girlfriend.”

Emma laughed on the other line, “Just come, you idiot. I need your help.”

“Help with _what_?”

“Sentiment.”

“Sentiment?”

“It seems like we've both found people who've been able to break through the exterior, sugar.”

“I'll be there in half an hour.”

“Bring comfort food.”

“Fine, but you're buying me dinner.”

The line went dead and Erik pocketed his phone, turning towards Charles. “It seems Emma is experiencing feelings and needs my help.”

Charles laughed, “Similar to you, then.”

“Mmhm,” he kissed Charles' forehead, “Damn you.”

Charles grinned, reaching his head up and kissing Erik again. “Go,” he murmured against his lip, “And text me later.”

Reluctantly, Erik stood up. “I'll see you tomorrow?”

Charles nodded, “I'd walk you out but I'm comfortable and the driveway's too long.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “Thank you for caring so much,” he exclaimed as he began to walk out and say goodbye to Raven and Azazel.

“It's what I'm here for!” Charles grinned, watching him leave.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for how delayed this is, I’ve been so busy and have had terrible writer’s block for days, (not to mention that it took nearly an hour to post this because the formatting kept fucking up). 
> 
> I want to finish this up in the next couple of week or two, because after that I’m going to be really busy and I don’t want to keep anyone waiting. The issue is that I can’t necessarily think of a way to end it that I’m happy with, so I’d really appreciate it if you guys maybe told me what you want to see, either here or my tumblr ask (www.mag-n-e-to.tumblr.com/ask).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I’m not really happy with it – as I said, I’ve had horrible writer’s block and haven’t been happy with anything I’ve written lately. The next chapter will be up soon, I’ve already started writing it, and don’t worry; the other characters will appear in it, as well as some feelings-infused slash. 
> 
> Thank you for being so patient, the next fic I write won’t be posted until I finish it, (and I’ve got some good ideas for me next couple of long AU Cherik fics, so look out). Don’t forget to tell me what you think!


	14. Sparkling Clean

Charles turned from side to side on the kitchen stool, watching Erik cook dinner. He loved just watching Erik do everyday things, loved watching the movement of the strong, lean body.

“I have a feeling you want to ask something,” Erik said without turning around.

“I feel kind of stupid for not asking before we started doing _things_ ,” he said and Erik left the chopping board to come over to him.

“ _Things_ ,” he repeated, smiling.

Charles rolled his eyes, “You know what I mean.”

“Ask your question.”

He blushed faintly and looked away from Erik's face, “You're clean, right?”

“Yes,” Erik replied, hand reaching out and making Charles look at him. “I would have told you if I wasn't. I’m not the kind of asshole who hides it.”

“I know, I just wanted to make sure.”

“I'm sparkling clean,” Erik declared dramatically. “It's like miniature cleaners go down there biweekly.”

“That's a horrible visual,” Charles laughed.

Erik grinned, picking up two different packets of pasta. “Now for the more important questions,” he said, holding the packets up for Charles to see. “Elbow or rigatoni?”

\---

“What?”

“Nothing,” Erik whispered.

“There's something. You've been acting weird all day.”

Raven and Azazel had left the day before, so they were back at Erik's apartment – Charles not wanting to be at the mansion when Kurt was expected to come back soon. And Erik had been acting weird all day; he kept opening his mouth to as if to say something right before awkwardly closing it and then announcing something stupid about the weather.

“Come here,” Erik said and patted his lap.

Charles sighed heavily but moved so he was sitting comfortably on Erik's lap. “What?” he asked again, head turning to the side like a questioning puppy.

“You just,” he paused, and snaked his arms around Charles' torso to hold him. “I don't know, you do something to me that no one else has ever been able to do. Other than my sister, I've never felt more obliged to protect someone, or to keep someone safe. I honestly think I'd do anything if it meant you could stay content.”

“Erik.”

He kissed Charles' cheek, forehead resting on Charles’ shoulder. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? We haven't been together for very long; we haven't bloody known each other for very long, but _fuck_ , Charles. I miss you when I'm not with you, even if it's only for a little bit. I find it hard to not think about you when I know I should be doing things, and it just increases the want to be near you. And when I'm with you, you make me, I don't know, you just,” he paused, trying to think of what to say, “I just feel so, _so_ \--”

Charles cut him off with a kiss; hands cupping the other man’s face gently, “You’re being sentimental again.”

Erik placed his head against Charles' forehead, smiling, “You do stupid things to me.”

“Bed,” Charles said, “Let's go to the bed.”

\---

Somehow, they made it to the bed without breaking away from each other, items of clothing peeling off as they went.

There was a different atmosphere this time, though. Neither of them were in a hurry, instead their kisses were slow and lazy; their touches were gentle, yet satisfying. It was as if they had their entire lives to reach a climax, and neither Charles nor Erik was rushed to get there.

Erik pressed his face into Charles' neck, his breath got and ragged. Mouth sliding over Charles' skin, he whispered “What do you want to do?”

Charles bit his lip, head tilting to the side so Erik had more access to his neck. “I want you,” he whispered, “ _All_ of you.”

Erik stopped and looked up into his eyes, “Do you mean...”

Charles nodded, “I want,” he paused, a faint blush colouring his face. “You'd think I'd be able to _say_ it, wouldn't you?”

Erik grinned, now leaning above Charles, one elbow resting on either side of the boy's torso. “We're not doing it unless you can say it.” Charles pouted, and Erik leant down to kiss it away. “Tell me,” he whispered.

“I want,” Charles said slowly, “to have sex.”

“With me?” Erik asked, mock-surprised.

Charles rolled his eyes, skin flushed pink. “Yes, idiot. With you.”

“Well,” Erik sighed, pretending to think it over. “I don't know, I mean there's just so much pressure and so much to think abo--”

Charles laughed and interrupted Erik by reaching a hand out to squash his face. “Erik,” he whined.

Erik chuckled, leaning down to kiss him again, “Okay, okay,” he said. “If you're one hundred percent sure.”

Charles nodded.

Erik let out a deep breath, “Alright,” he smiled softly. He reached over to his bedside table, pulling out the top draw and searching around for the stuff they'd need, and placing it on the corner of the bed. “If you want to stop, at any time, tell me, okay?”

Charles nodded and smiled nervously at him, “Just be gentle.”

Erik trailed his fingers across Charles' cheek, dragging them down to his neck and chest and eventually down to his hips, “Lift up.”

Charles did as he was told, moaning softly when one of Erik’s hands rested on his hip and the other picked up the bottle of lube. Erik squirted a generous amount if lube into his fingers, making sure they were completely slick to make it as comfortable for Charles as possible. He used his free hand to hold Charles’ hips still, and gently rubbed at the boy's entrance. Charles whimpered at the cool touch, earning a smirk from Erik.

“Ready?”

“Mmhm.”

Erik leant down and kissed his neck before sitting back on the heels. He pushed the first finger in gently, slow and steady, and gradually began to move his finger in and out. It wasn't long until Charles requested more, and Erik smiled at his eagerness and added another, stretching him slowly.

He added a third finger when he though Charles could take it, and it took a bit longer for the boy to get used to, and he started to shift uncomfortably. It didn’t take long for Charles to start squirming underneath him, pushing against his hand and letting out loud moans.

“I think,” Charles murmured after a while, “I think I'm ready.”

Erik sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, he was surprisingly nervous; it had been a while since he took someone's virginity. And this wasn't just anyone, this was _Charles_. He felt pressured to make it completely perfect. He nodded and pulled his fingers out slowly, wiping them against the sheets and reaching for the condom packet. He used his hands to tear the packet open, pulling it out and rolling it on.

He picked up the pillow Charles didn't have his head on, instructing the boy to lift his hips and placing it under his ass with the hope it would help Charles' comfort. “Ready?”

“This is going to hurt a lot, isn't it?”

Erik considered lying, but thought better of it. “Yes,” he said, “But it's also going to feel incredible, you just need to let it get to that point.”

Charles' smile was nervous, but he nodded, “Gentle,” he said.

Erik leant down and kissed the side of his mouth, “Promise.”

Erik picked the lube back up, coating his cock with almost twice the amount he'd usually use. His cock twitched in his hand, his entire body aching to be inside of Charles. He lined himself up with Charles' entrance, hand grabbing into the boy's hips and grabbing tightly. He bent and kissed Charles again, tongue running over his teeth and tongue. Erik pushed the slightest bit in; stopping the second he felt Charles' body tense even though his own body wanted nothing more than to thrust into the tight heat. He manoeuvred his body so he was leaning over Charles, his hands moving from his hips to rest on either side of Charles' face.

“You need to relax, darling,” he said in a gentle voice, willing himself not to groan out loud. “It will hurt more if you don't.”

Charles nodded, arms wrapping around Erik's neck, and fingernails digging into the skin of his shoulder blades.

“I'll stop if you want me to,” Erik murmured, kissing Charles' cheek. “I promise, we'll stop if it hurts too much.”

“Okay,” Charles whispered, trying to get his body to relax. “Try to go in more.”

Erik placed more featherlight kisses to Charles' skin and pushed into Charles gently until the head of his cock was in the boy. Charles gasped in pain, and Erik felt bad because he couldn't help the groan that came from his mouth.

“Are you okay?” He asked, head resting against Charles' shoulder.

“Burns,” he mumbled, nails digging into Erik's back hard enough to make him bleed.

“Do you want to stop?”

Charles shook his head, “More.”

“Charl--”

“More,” he said again. “Please, I'll tell you when to stop; I just want to get to the good.”

Erik nodded and kissed Charles' shoulder, pushing further into the boy's body. He stopped every time the boy said to, waiting for Charles' body to adapt to the feeling. Eventually, after a lot of stop-start and encouraging words, he managed to get all the way in, and it felt incredible. He hadn't been inside someone since just after he met Charles, and the feeling was slightly overwhelming.

Charles, on the other hand, was gasping because of the overwhelming pain. He knew it would stop, he _knew_ it would feel good sooner or later, he was just hoping it'd be _sooner_.

“You okay?” Erik asked quietly after a bit, lips soft against Charles'.

Charles nodded, his body growing used to the odd feeling, “Move.”

Erik didn't need to be told twice. He moved as slowly as he could, pulling out less than half way before pushing back in. He continued to do it, pulling further out each time as small gasps and groans leaving his mouth.

“Mm,” Charles moaned after a while. The pain was gradually decreasing, and pleasure was starting to overtake his senses. “Go faster.”

Erik did, and eventually Charles was back to squirming underneath him in pleasure, hands dragging down his back with each thrust. Erik had a tight hold on his hips, and Charles was almost positive there'd be hand-shaped bruises there tomorrow. He didn't mind.

“ _Charles_ ,” Erik gritted out. “I'm not going to last very long,” he groaned. “You feel, _god_ , you feel wonderful.”

“Harder,” Charles gasped, “Please, Erik, _fuck_.”

Erik pushed harder, unknowingly hitting Charles' prostrate. The boy screamed, literally _screamed_ , Erik was slightly worried people in the apartments above would have been able to hear.

“Erik,” he moaned, legs wrapping around the man's waist in an attempt to bring him closer. “Holy _shit,_ more.” Leaning upwards, he kissed the other man; it was sloppy and a little bit desperate but everything felt so _good_ that he didn't care.

Erik made sure to hit the spot with each thrust, Charles turning into a mumbling mess of _yes, please, more, fuck Erik, yes, Erik, more, more, shit, ERIK._

“Beautiful,” Erik whispered, mouth against Charles' ear as his hand moved across Charles' dick. “So, _so_ beautiful.”

Charles' body went rigid, his orgasm hitting him. He hid his face in Erik's shoulder, a futile attempt to muffle his moan. Erik followed right after, Charles' name on his lips as his hips stuttered in and out of him.

“Fuck,” he mumbled, collapsing on top of Charles, panting.

“Mmm,” Charles replied, eyes mostly shut and is body sated.

Erik kissed him gently, “I'm going to pull out, okay?”

Charles nodded sleepily, winching at the uncomfortable feeling. Erik sat back on his heels again, slipping the condom off and trying the end.

“I know we should clean up, but I'm not moving,” Charles mumbled.

Erik grinned, “I'll do it, otherwise you'll complain in the mining about waking up all sticky.”

\---

“Erik,” Charles mumbled later, once their breathing was back to normal, and with their bodies intertwined under the covers.

“Mmm?”

Charles shifted his head to looks at Erik's face, “I love you, too.”

Erik smiled, kissing Charles’ forehead and pulling him even closer to his body as they feel asleep.

\---

The Café reopened on the first, and Charles was happy to be back at work, he really was. He had missed being around his fellow employees, because although he had spoken to them briefly via text, he hadn't actually seen anyone since Emma decided to close the shop for the holidays. He'd also missed having something to do – a reason to leave the house.

That didn't mean he hadn't thoroughly enjoyed his time with Erik.

And his grimacing and winching didn't mean he wasn't happy to be working again.

It meant that the searing pain in his ass that has been caused _because_ of the time he'd spent with Erik.

He want complaining about it though, the sex was so, _so_ , worth being in a little pain the following day, (Charles had discovered a new love). A seven hour shift filled with hung-over people and not having the chance to sit down just wasn't helping.

Still, it felt good to be back. There'd already been a fight between Scott and Alex, who both came into work with slightly damp clothes; (“You said _leave_ the washing on the line!” “No, you _idiot_ , I said _don't_ leave it because it wouldn't dry.” “Do it yourself, then!”). Logan, true to his word, hadn't done anything that could be considered flirty, showing that he knew when to back off when his attention wasn't wanted. Instead it seemed as if his attention had turned towards Emma; Charles made a mental note to talk to Erik about that.

Moira and Sean weren't currently working, but there was a staff meeting later that evening that everyone was required to attend, and Charles was rather excited to see them, too.

“See the girl you served about ten minutes ago,” Logan said from behind him.

Charles looked towards his left, spotting her just as she looked again. “Yeah?”

“She's been checking you out the entire time she's been in here, bub.”

“Don't say that,” Charles stated, hint of a smile on his lips. “I feel bad for not reciprocating.”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Of course you would feel bad about that.”

“Sorry for being _nice_.”

“Overly nice,” Logan clarified. “How you get on with people like Lehnsherr, I'll never know.”

Shrugging, he said, “Erik's not as bad as everyone says he is. He's not even as bad as he thinks he is.”

Logan gave him an incredulous look.

Charles laughed, “I'm serious. He just doesn't like to associate himself with,” he trailed off, “Anyone, really.”

“How'd you get in the picture, then?”

“I don't let glaring looks and ridiculous rumours scare me away.”

“Fair point,” Logan concluded, going to the counter as a customer walked in.

\---

The meeting turned out to be more of a catch up, everyone sitting around the large table at the back with freshly made beverages, joking and laughing with each other. They had briefly discussed work matters, who was taking what shift and who needed what day off etc.

Charles shifted in his seat and sighed softly in pain, successfully gaining the attention of everyone.

“What's up, bub?” Logan asked, smirking. “You’ve ben winching all day.”

Charles rolled his eyes, “ _Nothing_.”

“Ooooooh,” Sean called out, “Charles got some last night!”

Charles was sure he blushed scarlet as the urge to hide became prominent, this was surely going to cause more questions about _who_ he got some with. If he was honest, Charles was ready to tell them, he just didn't know how. “I did not get anything last night, Sean,” he replied, well aware it was useless to even try and pretend.

“Oh, please, sugar,” Emma said, looking oddly self-satisfied, “Your face tells us all.”

“How was it?” Alex asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“I am _not_ having this conversation with you lot.”

“Look at that blush,” Moira cooed, “Of course it was good.”

“Who was on top?” Sean asked, laughing at Charles' expression.

“Obviously not him, you idiot,” Alex replied, hitting his friend behind head. “Why else would his arse hurt?”

Sean glared back, “Girls can be on top, if you haven't noticed. It's all about the positioning.”

“Why,” Scott cut in, “Would you even _want_ to know? I doubt Charles wants you to know specifics about his sex life.”

“Looking for tips?” Logan playfully asked Sean.

“My skill in the bedroom is perfectly adequate, thank you very much.”

“What would you know about skill in the bedroom?” Scott asked, “You look ten, you shouldn't be having other people in the bedroom.”

“That's why he uses his hand,” Alex laughed, ducking the punch directed his way.

“We're supposed to be discussing Charles' sex life, not mine.”

“Oh, no, I'm more than happy to keep going on about your _skill_ in the bedroom, Sean.” Charles grinned as Sean's cheeks turned pink.

“Seriously, Charles,” Emma continued, “Was it good? I'll fire you if you don't tell us.”

Charles rolled his eyes, “You'll do nothing of the sort, you need me.”

“Try me, sugar.”

Charles huffed, “Yes, it was good,” he said. “It ridiculously incredible, thank you for asking, can we change the subject now?”

“No,” Logan replied.

“Tell us more,” Alex drawled.

“What else do you want to know?”

“It was your first time, wasn't it?” Moira asked, “I don't think it would hurt so much if it wasn't.”

Charles flushed, heat spreading across his skin, “Not answering that,” he mumbled.

“Of course it was,” Emma smiled, “Our baby's all grown up--”

“ _Our baby_? I’m older than Alex _and_ Sean.”

“--I feel like a proud mother.”

“That's ridiculous, Emma.”

“I simultaneously want to kill and hug the man who took away your innocence, sugar,” she winked at him, and Charles’ blush deepened.

“This is getting weird.”

“It was weird a while ago, bub.”

“When do we get to see the mysterious boyfriend, Charles?” Sean whined, “He needs my blessing.”

“And mine,” Alex joined in.

“This far in, I doubt Charles is going to care about either of your blessings,” Scott leant back in his chair, “Right, Charles?”

“No,” Alex intervened. “Charles holds our opinions in the highest regards. Don't you, Charles?”

“Not answering either,” Charles said, and Alex whined while Sean pouted.

“Why haven't we met him?” Moira asked, “Surely he's came in before and got something.”

“Yeah, why doesn't he pick you up or anything?”

“You need a chivalrous man, Charles. Is he not gallant?”

“I can't believe you know the word _gallant_.”

“Do you have photos? Can we see photos?”

“Is he just shy?”

“Is he ugly? Is that why you don't want us to see?”

“Is he, like, ninety? I don't mind an age difference, Charles, really!”

“Maybe he's got a deformed face.”

“Maybe he's incognito.”

“Yeah! Like a superhero. Oh my god, Charles! Is he a superhero?”

“Really, Alex, _incognito_?”

“Is he a spy? I think he's a spy.”

“CIA agent?”

“You lot,” Charles nearly shouted so he was heard, “Are utterly absurd.”

“Why, thank you, Charles.”                                             

Charles took a deep breath and smiled, “No, his chivalry is perfectly adequate. He isn't what I would call shy. Certainly not ugly, like, at all. No, Sean, he isn't ninety, although he is a bit older; thank you for the approval. His face is fine, he's not hiding his identity, as far as I know, he isn't a superhero, and no, he's not a CIA agent.”

“Then _why_ ,” Alex whined again, “Have we not met him.”

Charles sighed, “Soon, okay? I promise.

Sean perked up, “We need to get our questions ready, Alex.”

Charles shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “What have I got myself into?” he mumbled.

“Oh, sugar, you have no idea.”

\---

After finally turning the conversation from his sex life onto other things, such as Alex's disastrous attempt at cooking dinner for a girl and almost ending up in hospital, they decided it was time to leave and go home.

They were huddled directly outside the café, an unspoken decision to wait with each other for their rides. Charles had a sneaking suspicion it was more to do with the fact that Sean would never forgive Alex if he made him wait alone, and that Scott wanted more time with Moira – even if it was in the freezing cold. He was also pretty sure that the reason Logan was still there was because of Emma, who was _always_ the last to leave.

Charles pushed his face into his scarf to preserve the heat. He was torn – he half wanted Erik to be the first one there, but half hoped he was the last. After their previous conversation, Charles thought that _one_ of them would pick up on the odd relationship he and Erik shared.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Erik was the first to get there. He got out of the car in one swift movement, looking incredible rugged up in the form fitting coat and tightly knotted scarf. Charles smiled nervously, noticing the slight groan from Sean.

Emma whistled when he got closer, “Looking good, Lehnsherr. What have you been doing?”

He bent down and kissed Charles' cheek before replying, “Just going through the nightly ritual of cooking up the neighbours’ pets.”

“Sounds delicious,” she said, voice thick with sarcasm.

“My favourite meal,” his voice matched her tone.

Emma grinned, “Did you look up Wade like I told you to?”

“I did.”

“I told you he got hot.”

“He did,” Erik agreed. “He really did. He's a complete dick, though, not to mention he's still batshit crazy. It doesn't really matter, considering I've got someone ten times better.”

“Being openly sentimental doesn't suit you, sugar.”

Charles snorted, drawing Erik's attention back to him. “Something funny?”

“You and sentiment.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “Come on, liebling, it's bloody freezing.”

Charles linked his arm with Erik’s and stood closer to him, relishing in the heat the other man's body radiated. “If I ask nicely, will you buy me dinner?”

“Just have some freshly cooked pets, Charles,” Emma cut in.

“Not my first choice, I've got to admit.”

Emma smiled at him before turning to Erik and giving him a pointed look, “Answer your texts, or I'm kicking down the door of your apartment to get answers.”

Erik grinned, “I'll see you later, then,” he said before he started to walk off, listening to Charles yell his goodbyes.

\---

“Is anyone else thinking that maybe, _maybe_ , Charles' mysterious boyfriend is perhaps _Lehnsherr_ , and that's why he doesn't want us to know?” Moira said, breaking the brief silence.

“Ridiculous!” Sean called, shaking his head.

“Is it, though?” Moira asked. “I mean, if you think about it, they spend and awful lot of time together, _and_ Lehnsherr is usually the one to pick him up nowadays, even though Charles has a perfectly fine car that he and drive to and from work.”

“And they're a bit close, aren't they?” Logan asked. “Too close, I think, to be completely platonic.”

“We've got to have another discussion with Charles,” Sean murmured, eyes wide.

“Definitely,” Alex agreed.

\---

“Never have I been asked so many questions about my romantic life,” Charles said as they got into the car.

“Oh god,” Erik replied, “How'd they know?”

“The winching, I think.”

Erik looked at him in concern, “It still hurts?”

Charles hummed, “Yes, but it was always going to,” he paused. “I don't think standing and walking around all day helped, though.”

“Don't work tomorrow.”

“Don't be ridiculous, it's not that bad.”

“Charles,” Erik drawled, eyes on the road, “I don't want you in any pain, at all.”

“It's the good kind of pain.”

Erik gave him a looked that screamed 'you need a better excuse than that', “I swear I won't have sex with you again.”

“No!” Charles yelped, blushing. “Definitely not, now that we've started I don't necessarily want to stop, even if there is pain.”

“What have I done to you?”

“Emma likes to say you've taken away my innocence, I like to say you've increased how hormonal I am.”

Erik barked a laugh, “Nice way of putting it, liebling.”

Charles smiled, “On another note, who's Wade?”

“Huh?” Erik asked, before realising. “Oh, _oh_ , he's this guy Emma and I went to school with. Complete dickhead, if you ask me. I nearly snapped his neck in my second year a college.”

“Charming.”

Erik smiled, “Emma thought so, too,” he said. “Why do you care who he is?” he glanced at Charles, “Jealous?”

“No,” Charles said sharply.

“I think you're jealous,” Erik replied in a sing-song voice.

Charles rolled his eyes, “Just drive the car.”

\---

“I'm not jealous,” Charles announced later that night, chest still heaving and body sprawled over Erik's.

“Mmm?” Erik replied, absentmindedly tracing patterns into the small of Charles' back.

“Before, you said I was jealous,” he clarified. “I'm not, that’s your job. I just prefer all of your attention on me.”

Erik kissed the side of his head, “Lucky for you that's where it usually is.”

Charles smiled, shifting into a more comfortable position before falling asleep to the sound of Erik's heartbeat.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the sex scene about five times and I’m still not happy with it but anyway, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I think I’ve stuffed the timing, but just to clear possibly confusion, this chapter is set during the last couple of days in December and the beginning of January, skipping New Years because I didn’t like anything I wrote for it. Also, I can’t remember if I said when Erik’s birthday way, but for the story’s purposes it’s in the second week of January, and will be in the next chapter.
> 
> Next chapter will be up soon!


	15. Surprise

“How do we ask?”

“We can't just ambush him.”

“Maybe call another group meeting.”

“Maybe we should ask Lehnsherr.”

“You're on your own there, Logan. I am _not_ talking to him.”

“We're gonna have to if Charles really is with him.”

“No, we're going to make Charles realise what he's doing, _if_ they're together.”

“You can't do that, Sean. If he's happy, you've got to let him be happy.”

“But with _Lehnsherr_?”

“With anyone.”

“But he's a creep.”

“Charles doesn't seem to think so.”

“Brainwashed, I tell you!”

“While Erik certainly has some surprising talents, I can assure you brainwashing isn't one of them, sugar.”

“But is doesn't make _sense_! Charles is wonderful and lovely and he does everything for everyone and he's just so _nice_ that it can be annoying.” Sean said with a lot of over dramatic hand gestures, “It doesn't make sense for him to be in a relationship with an asshole.”

“Erik can be nice,” Emma said. “It just takes the right person.”

Four pairs of eyes turned and looked at her in disbelief.

“ _Nice_?”

“Are you feeling alright?”

Emma rolled her eyes, “Yes, nice. Now get back to work. I don't care if it's a slow day, I don't pay you to sit around and chat.”

\---

Logan got fed up with everyone's speculating, so he was the one who ended up asking. It didn't go with anyone's plan, which was really just to ease it into a conversation, but it got the job done. It was just after a three hour rush of customers, where the café emptied slightly and everyone working got a chance to breathe and relax a bit, no longer rushing to get someone’s order done. Alex and Sean were huddled together while they whispered to each other, eyes constantly looking up at Charles who was cleaning one of the tables in front of the counter.

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes, “Oi, Xavier,” he called out. “Come here for minute, I've got something to ask you.”

Alex and Sean looked up at him, eyes widening as they realised what was going to happen.

Oblivious, Charles looked up and smiled, immediately coming to stand with the rest of them, “Ask away.”

“I want an honest answer, alright bub?”

“Now you're worrying me.”

“Are you and Lehnsherr a thing?”

Charles' eyes widened his body stopping dead in its tracks. _Shit_. “What?”

“Don't play dumb, it doesn't suit you. You and Lehnsherr, yes or no?”

Charles sighed and ran a hand over his face. He had to tell the truth, lying now would be too hard to explain later. “Yes,” he muttered.

“Alright,” Logan said, nodding. “I had my suspicions. He's an asshole, as far as I'm concerned, but alright.”

Charles looked at him oddly. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Good to know.”

“This has to be a mistake,” Sean exclaimed, shaking his head.

“Seriously, Charles?” Alex asked, eyes wide.

“Yes, seriously.”

“ _How_?”

“Do you really want me to explain that?” There was a gush of cool air as a group of customers walked in. “We’ll talk about it later,” Charles said, turning to the front of the counter.

\---

“Just tell me one thing, Charles.”

“What is it?”

“Does he creep you out at all?”

“No, Sean, he doesn't.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

They had finished their shifts not long ago and were standing in the parking lot waiting for Sean's mother, and Erik to pick them up.

“Is it serious?” Alex asked.

Charles smiled softly, “Maybe.”

“That's a yes, then.”

“He doesn't make you feel used?”

“No.”

“He doesn't hurt you?” Sean asked hesitantly.

“No, never.”

“Are you sure? Because you've had some pretty suspicious bruises, Charles.”

“Yeah, don't be scared to us. We can help.”

Charles glared at the both of them, anger swelling in his chest. “He would never, _ever_ \-- I can't believe you'd even _think_ \-- Those bruises didn't come from him-- Erik's not the typ--”

“Okay!” Alex declared. “Okay, he doesn't hurt you, that's good.”

“Has he pushed you into anything?”

“No, believe me,” Charles said. “I didn't need much convincing.”

Sean made a face, “Ew, I can't imagine Lehnsherr doing _that_.”

“Your loss, really. He's good at it.”

“Charles!”

Charles grinned at the obvious discomfort, “If you're going to question me about it, I'm going to make it fun.”

“Do you guys argue?”

“Not really, no.”

“Emma said he could be nice,” Sean announced. “But I'm not too sure how I feel about that.”

“He can actually be incredibly nice.”

There was a silence as Sean considered the new information, broken only when Alex asked, “Are you guys happy?”

Charles nodded, smiling, “Considerably.”

“I'm still not convinced it's as good as you say it is,” Sean said, sighing. “There's so much speculation about Lehnsherr for it to be so good.”

Charles rolled his eyes, waving as we saw Erik's car pull in and drive towards him. The older man got out and Charles immediately moved towards him. He reached up and kissed him chastely, smiling.

Erik rained an eyebrow at him. “You told?” he asked, inclining his head towards Alex and Sean.

“They asked,” Charles replied. “Wasn't bothered lying anymore.”

“How did they take it?”

Charles looked over towards the two teenagers standing next to them, their uneasiness clear. “Please tell them you haven't done anything bad at all to me so they calm down.”

Erik grinned, “I promise you, I have not, nor will I, harm Charles in any way.”

“You were smiling. Now it just sounds like a threat.”

“My smile is not that bad!”

“No, your smile is beautiful, darling. But to them it's a tiny bit scary.”

“Seriously?”

“Sean looks ready to run.”

Erik shrugged, “I tend to have that affect with or without the smile.”

Charles huffed a laugh, “Goodbye, Sean, Alex,” he said. “Everything is wonderful, honestly. I'll see you tomorrow.”

\---

“I'm going to be late for work,” Charles said, panting as he rolled off of Erik and onto his back.

“You can't say that what we just did won't be worth it.”

“Mmhm,” Charles said, rubbing his face. “I need to shower, and find clothes, but...”

“But you don't want to,” Erik supplied

“No.”

Erik laughed breathlessly and turned on his side, “Stay here with me, instead.”

Charles groaned, “I'm trying to be a responsible adult and have a job.”           

“You don’t need a job.”

“Erik.”

“We could consider it an early birthday present.”

“Emma's going to kill me.” Erik pouted, actually pouted, and Charles couldn't help the small smile. “You can be annoying and sit in the café all day, and when it's not busy I'll come and talk.”

“Okay,” Erik said, still pouting.

“And we can share the shower.”

 _That_ brought a smile to Erik's face.

\---

“Well, you look thoroughly fucked,” was the first thing Emma said to him as he walked in.

Charles blushed and ran a hand through his still damp hair, “Sorry I'm late.”

“You're lucky it's slow at the moment,” she replied, smirking at Erik when we walked in a few moments later.

“Morning,” he said.

“I'd appreciate it if you didn't make my employees late, Lehnsherr.”

He grinned at her, “Haven't a clue what you're on about.”

“Mmhm.”

“It's almost always Charles' idea.”

“Somehow,” Emma drawled, “I don't doubt that.”

\---

“Break time,” Charles said, and placed two steaming cups and bag containing a large slice of chocolate cake on the table Erik had been sitting at all morning.

“Tell me that's cake,” Erik said, eyeing the bag.

“It's cake,” Charles replied, sitting down next to the older man.

“Chocolate?”

“Chocolate.”

“I love you,” Erik kissed his cheek, turning and opening the bag.

Charles grinned; it warmed his entire body every time he heard Erik say that. “It's nice to know my cake picking skills go appreciated.”

“I appreciate all of you,” Erik assured him.

He broke off a bit of cake and held it out towards Charles, chuckling when the younger man took it with his mouth, tongue running across his fingers so he didn't miss anything.

“I can't tell if you're trying to be sexual or if you just really enjoy the cake,” Erik commented, hand moving to his own mouth to lick off the icing Charles missed.

“Maybe both.”

“Discovering a kink, Charles?”

“Perhaps we could give it more thought later.”

“What,” Erik said, laughing, “Have I done to you?”

“Introduced me to a world of sex that I'm going increasingly fond of,” Charles kissed his cheek and pulled his drink towards him. “Maybe that's because it's with you, though.”

“You flatter me, schatz.”

“That's a new one,” Charles declared, leaning into Erik. “What's it mean? Unfortunately my German isn't the best.”

“It means treasure, or sweetheart,” Erik kissed his forehead. “And I could teach you how to speak it, you know.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm, it'd be good. I tend to talk to myself in German sometimes and expect the people around me to know what I've been saying,” Erik said. “Bit of a bad habit, actually.”

“I've noticed you do that when you cook,” Charles grinned. “And in bed.”

“It's got to be _really_ good to reduce me to my mother tongue, you're lucky.”

“I can die happy,” Charles said, voice think with sarcasm. “All life's dreams have been complete.”

Erik rolled his eyes and grabbed his iPad, “Tell me you can play chess. I downloaded the app and really want to play against someone.”

“Did you really think I _wouldn't_ know how?” Charles unlocked the iPad, having obtained Erik's passwords ages ago, and found the app. “I'm playing white,” he said, and Erik grinned at him.

“Prepare to get your ass kicked, Xavier.”

\---

Everyone had eventually found out about Erik and him, which, surprisingly, wasn't too bad. Alex and Sean were still sure there was something wrong with the man; Charles didn't think he'd ever be able to convince them otherwise, but they seemed okay with it, after a firm talking to. Scott didn't really care, which Charles appreciated, but Moira had been a bit iffy at the idea and had asked a million questions. Logan just accepted it, although he openly didn't like Erik, and Emma still seemed as if she was their number one fan.

Their questions about his sex life didn't stop; instead everyone seemed to gain interest in what Erik was like in bed. Charles would blush each time and mutter something along the lines of _amazing, now stop asking_.

“Please stay in bed with me,” Erik mumbled, pulling Charles towards him.

Charles smiled and kissed shoulder, “Not only should we be out of bed anyway, it's almost two in the afternoon, but I also have to work.”

“But it's my _birthday_.”

“I know. I have a short shift, so I won't be gone for long, I promise.”

“What's going to happen of I have a breakdown when you're not here? I'm thirty now, Charles, it could happen.”

“Thirty, and a drama queen,” Charles muttered, ducking the playful whack sent his way. “You will be fine, Erik. Go see other friends, or something.”

“Darling, I don't know if you've noticed, but most of my other friends annoy me on a good day, I don't want to see them _today_. I want to spend it with you.”

“What did you do last year? I wasn't here then.”

“I was upset last year, so Emma took me shopping for retail therapy and we ended up consuming a lot more alcohol than I would recommend,” Erik said. “I hardly remember the night.”

Charles sighed, “I'm only gone from two thirty to about six, not even that. You can manage.”

“What kind of café stays open till six?”

“The kind that still gets customers at that time,” Charles said and wiggled his way out of Erik's grasp. “I'm having a shower and getting dressed; you can either mope in bed, or come and join me.”

\---

“What's with the clothes, bub?”

Charles looked down at his outfit, he was wearing a crisp, pale blue oxford that was tucked into incredibly tight black jeans, (Erik always seemed to enjoy him in them, which was why he wore them, they weren't very comfortable), a navy blue cardigan that hung loosely on his shoulders, and a thick, black coat that he'd hung up when he came in.

“I thought I looked nice. I spent a lot of time picking this out.”

“You do,” Logan assured him. “But it's a bit fancy for work.”

“I'm going out to dinner afterwards.”

“Ooh,” Sean called. “What's the special event?”

“No special event.”

“Oh please,” Sean said. “You look like you're about to walk down a red carpet.”

Charles' cheeks coloured, “I do not.”

“What’s the event?”

Charles rolled his eyes, “If you must know, it's Erik's birthday today.”

Sean scrunched his face up, “I'm still not used to the idea of you and _Lehnsherr_.”

Charles smiled at him, “As long as you try.”

“For you, Charles. Just for you.”

“What are you going to eat?”

“Italian restaurant about twenty minutes away from here,” Charles replied, leaning back on the counter.

“I love Italian food,” Sean exclaimed. “Can I come?”

Charles grinned, “Do you really want to sit through a dinner with Erik and I?”

Sean grimaced, “Perhaps not.”

\---

Erik had, apparently, took _it'll be a slow shift anyway_ as _you have permission to text me every second I'm working_. Which would have been fine, had most of them not been inappropriate texts that made Charles flush.

_Stop, or you won't get any tonight._

**I don't think you could do that if you wanted to, Charles. You enjoy sex too much.**

_:(_

_I can try._

**It would be the only thing you'd fail at.**

_Taking that as a compliment._

**That's what it was meant to be.**

**Are you going to tell me where we're going for dinner, or do I have to guess?**

_I'm not telling._

_And you're not guessing._

**:(**

_It isn't even that fancy._

**Is the food good?**

_No, I'm taking you to a restaurant with shit food for your birthday._

**Best boyfriend ever!**

_I know!_

**Wherever we go, can my desert be you?**

_That's a horrible line, so no._

**You're so mean to me, liebling.**

_I like to think I'm firm._

**But seriously you looked ravishing when we left, I'm not sure I'll be able to wait throughout all of dinner.**

_You'll have to try._

**And then, of course, there's always the drive back.**

**My backseat is pretty big, though.**

_We're not having sex in the backseat of your car. We're going to wait until we get home._

**I love that you call my apartment home. It makes me warm and fuzzy.**

**Like you.**

_Cliché, but cute._

_You make me warm and fuzzy, too._

**That's all I need.**

_I need to get back to work, they're trying to read the texts now._

**:(**

**Don't leave.**

_You're a big boy, you can handle it._

**I'm not doing that thing with my tongue tonight.**

_Yes, you are._

\---

“Happy birthday, old man,” Emma called, opening the door to the café for Erik. They had officially closed ten minutes ago, Charles and Logan staying behind to help clean up.

“I'm not _old_.”

“Are you going grey?”

“Emma,” Erik whined.

She smiled at him, “Seriously, sugar. You're gonna start losing your hair soon.”

Erik glared at her, “Wait until your thirtieth and we'll see what you're like.”

“I'll still look twenty-two.”

Erik rolled his eyes, steeping away from Emma and towards Charles, “Is this formal enough?”

Charles' eyes scanned over his outfit, taking in the white collared shirt, tight fitting black pants and the open, dark grey coat. “It's fine.”

“Are you ready?”

“One sec,” Charles said, pulling his work apron off and grabbing his coat. He turned back to Erik and stuck his hand out, looking at the other man expectantly.

Erik sighed but threw his car keys at him, “I would be able to drive if you directed me.”

Charles smiled, walking to the other side of the counter and towards Erik. “I'm driving,” he said, leaning up to kiss the other man briefly.

“ _Erik Lehnsherr_ is going to let somebody other than him _drive his car_?” Emma asked. “The world's going to bloody end.”

Erik rolled his eyes, smiling. “I trust him to drive it, I don't trust you.”

“Why not?”

“Remember when you almost drove into the wall of my apartment building?”

“That was an accident!”

“We're going now,” he proclaimed, grabbing Charles' hand.

“See you tomorrow, Logan, Emma!”

\---

“I can't believe I've never been here before,” Erik exclaimed near the end of their meal. “The food is amazing.”

“I told you in would be.”

“My statement about desert still stands, though.”

Charles smiled, “So impatient.”

“I can't help it when you look the way you do.”

“Flattery, darling, will get you nowhere.”

\---

Flattery, apparently, got Erik to a lot of places.

They'd left not long after the meal, Charles nearly agreeing to Erik's proposition and turning into a side street. “Just drive as fast as you can without breaking the law,” he'd said to Erik.

They were barely though the door of Erik's apartment before Charles was pushed against a wall, his legs wrapped around Erik's waist as the other man bit and licked at his throat.

“We should probably move to the bed, or couch,” Erik mumbled against his skin.

“Too much moving, we could just do it against the wall. Bed and couch later.”

“And I'm the impatient one?”

\---

Charles really, _really_ didn't want to go back to school.

It wasn't because he didn't like it, there was little else he enjoyed more than learning, it was because he'd been so happy during the holidays. Going back to school meant staying at the mansion, and because his mother was still ill he'd only be there with Kurt. There would be no one there with them but the staff, who always went home after dinner, so there was no one to even attempt to stop Kurt when he started to get violent.

It also meant that he spent less time with Erik, which always had a larger impact on Charles than he liked. He always missed the other man when he wasn't around him, and all the other stress from his life always made it worse.

A small part of him was excited to go back, though. He didn't have long until he finished school, and despite all the bad times, he thought he would miss it when he finally finished.

\---

“I need to tell you something,” Charles mumbled, rolling so he was laying half on top of Erik.

“Is it a serious something?” Erik asked, hand reaching up to play with Charles' hair.

“Mmm, I know I probably should have told you before, but I wasn't sure it would work so I didn't want to get my hopes up.”

“You're worrying me a bit, darling.”

Charles smiled nervously, “I don't mean to.”

“What is it?”

Charles bit his lip, one finger tracing the patterns on Erik's chest. “I applied for Oxford a while ago. I've done the exam and interview and everything already.”

Erik's hand stopped it's movement, “How'd you go?”

After a pause, Charles sighed and looked up. “I got an offer.”

Erik beamed and kissed Charles soundly, “Congratulations, darling. What course?”

“Biomedical science,” Charles replied, confused. He'd been expected a different reaction.

“You don't look happy.”

“You do realise what it means, don't you?” Charles asked quietly.

“We need to move to England.”

“ _We_?” Charles said, eyes wide. “You mean...”

“When the time comes, and we both agree, I'd like to come with you.”

“But you have a life here,” Charles said. “I don't want to drag you away from it.”

“I had a life in Germany, too,” Erik replied. “Change is good, and I honestly think you're worth getting up and going.”

“I don't want you to feel inclined because of me, though.”

“Charles, if you don't want me to come--”

“I do, I don't want to leave you. It's just I also don't want to make you feel like I'm pressuring you into anything,” Charles sighed and sat up, manoeuvring his body so he was sitting cross-legged next to Erik. “I want you to come because you want to, not because I want you to.”

“You're incredibly selfless, you know,” Erik said after a pause. “I'd like to come, my job is portable, so it's easy for me to move around. Besides, it's not like we need to leave tomorrow. There's time for us to work it out. Now smile, okay?”

“Okay,” Charles said, smiling softly.

“Let's focus on the fact that you got in to study _biomedical science_. My eighteen year old boyfriend is smarter than me; I don't know how I feel about that.”

That made Charles smile more broadly.

\---

“Charles, are you alright?” Alex asked when the customers eventually stopped rushing in and allowed them to talk.

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” Alex repeated.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Charles said. “Why would I not be?”

“Because you look shit,” Alex replied bluntly. “I mean, I don't want to be rude or anything but it looks like you haven't slept in weeks.”

“I'm fine,” he said, not looking at Alex.

“Charles,” Alex sighed. “Surely by now you can tell me? There's obviously something wrong. Is there something going on with you and Lehnsherr?”

After a moment, Charles looked up at Alex and smiled slightly. “Erik and I are fine; it's just that there are some issues at home.”

“What kind of issues?”

“My mother’s ill,” Charles sighed. “And it's causing problems between my stepfather and me, but I'm sure it'll be fine.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Charles shook his head. “Well,” Alex said. “I hope she gets better soon.”

“Yeah.”

“And if you ever need cheering up, Sean and I know the _best_ comfort foods, give us ten minutes and all your worries will be forgotten.”

Charles grinned, “I might that you up on that.”

\---

Sharon Xavier died on the first Saturday of April.

The information came halfway through Charles' shift, just as he was starting his break. It was peaceful, the doctors said, it happened in her sleep. It wasn't unexpected, either; her health had been steadily declining since January, and Charles has started to prepare himself long before it happened. The second Charles had got off the phone, he'd sent a text to Erik asking to get picked up, and had found Emma to tell her he needed to go.

He'd then told Raven, who flew in as soon as she could to try and help. They'd sat and talked, both feeling guilty for the slight relief they felt. Sharon Xavier had not been the best mother, not for a very long time, and they couldn't help but feel a tiny bit grateful to not have to deal her anymore. The funeral and passing was a surprisingly peaceful affair, with no one in Sharon's life being particularly surprised.

It was the shitstorm that happened afterwards that got to Charles. As suspected, there was severe conflict between him and Kurt about who got what, only intensifying when Raven got involved. Both Charles and Raven had no wish to let what was mostly their father's assets go to the abusive bastard they were forced to call a step-father. They'd eventually got their way, after months of arguing and Charles finally discovering his mother's will, which Kurt had hidden.

They had got everything in the end, their mother apparently not wanting to leave her husband and stepson anything, either. They had split it evenly between themselves, although Charles ended up with the house. Not that he'd stayed there; once Kurt had gone, Erik had insisted he stay at his apartment.

Charles hadn't wanted to resist.


	16. Goodbye

Graduation was an interesting affair. Charles had, unsurprisingly, graded higher than anyone else in his class, thus gaining the title of valedictorian. He'd written his speech with help from both Erik and Raven, ensuring there was a sufficient _fuck you_ undertone while remaining professional while he presented the speech. As expected, Kurt didn't go, instead Raven showed up with both Azazel and Erik at her side, a sight that made Charles feel a lot more relaxed. The whole ordeal, however, had been rather tedious, as Charles honestly didn't think he'd miss much, if any, of his fellow classmates. He was actually rather glad to finally leave, despite all the nerves.

“Well,” Charles said, stepping into the passenger's seat of Erik's car, “That went well.”

Erik grinned and leant across to kiss him soundly, “Congratulations, liebling. I'm proud of you.”

“Ugh,” Raven said, sliding into the backseat, Azazel following her. “You two are disgusting.”

Erik rolled his eyes, “Pick somewhere to eat,” he told them. “My baby has graduated, we need to celebrate. I'll pay.”

“There's a Greek restaurant about fifteen minutes away from here and it's _the best_ ,” Raven said.

Erik turned Charles, “Any objections?” Charles shook his head. “Azazel?”

“I've learnt to just go with what she wants,” the Russian replied. “It's a lot easier.”

“You can say that again,” Charles mumbled.

“I hate the both of you,” Raven grumbled, leaving into Azazel's side.

Erik pulled out of the parking lot, eyes darting back and forth between the road and Charles. “You okay?”

Charles hummed, “Feels weird.”

“Good weird or bad weird?”

“Good weird,” Charles smiled and leant over the gear stick so he could whisper to Erik, “I'm hoping you'll make me feel _really good_ later.”

Charles watched Erik's throat moved as he swallowed, “Keep talking, liebling, and I'll crash the car.”

“I’ll shut up, we definitely wouldn't want that to happen.”

\---

The dinner went well, with everyone being civil towards each other. Charles was glad to see the relationship between Erik and Raven had improved considerably over the past few months; he could tell he got on with Azazel, too, and was grateful for that because it increased the probability of Raven liking him. His mind was preoccupied throughout dinner, though, with lots emotions fluttering around in his head, the main ones being excitement, sadness, anxiety, and arousal.

The last one was probably due to the way Erik was very-subtly-but-still-obviously eating in a sensual way, with one hand resting on Charles upper thigh while he discussed Azazel's engineering studies.

The other three were from a mix of things; the fact that he would be leaving America in just over a month being the prominent factor. Funnily enough, Charles wasn't actually worried about living with Erik permanently. Over the past eight months, he had spent more time at Erik's apartment than he had elsewhere, and believed that they'd be able to adjust to domesticated life in England without trouble. He was worried that Erik would pull out at the last second and decide he didn't want to come with him, despite how many times the other man had told him otherwise.

Charles was nervous, too, because he'd been putting off everything he needed to do to be able to move to England without many, if any, issues. He hadn't looked for apartments, or flights, or anything that he needed to do, really, and it was starting to overwhelm him a little bit.

“You alright?” Erik asked, making Charles jump slightly.

“Yeah,” he replied slowly, noticing the two other empty seats.

“Charles?”

He shook his head, “Sorry, I was just thinking,” he turned and smiled at Erik. “All yours, now.”

Erik still looked worried, “Thinking about what?”

“How much we have to do.”

Erik pulled him against his chest, placing a soft kiss to Charles' forehead. “It'll be fine,” he whispered. “You'll have me there the entire time.”

Charles smiled softly and kissed Erik's jaw before straightening up when he saw Raven's blonde head of hair.

\---

"Oh, shit, Erik."

“Come on, liebling,” Erik panted, hands holding Charles hips hard enough to leave marks.

Charles eased himself up, clenching as he pushed down against Erik's cock, “This is possibly my new favourite position.”

Erik laugh sounded more like a wheeze and his head hits the headboard with a thud, “Move, please, darling.”

Charles smirked and pulled up again, easing back down slowly and watching Erik's reaction - the way his neck moved when he swallowed, the way he shut his eyes in pleasure, lips parted slightly. Erik, Charles thought as he set a rhythm, was really rather beautiful. He didn't take his eyes away from Erik's as he rode him, watching as sensation washed over his face. Erik moved and mouthed at his neck, trailing kissing across his collarbone and towards Charles' nipple, the heat of Erik's tongue making Charles moan loudly.

Charles pushed down, nails digging into Erik's skin where they rested against his back. Erik reached his head upward and kissed Charles' open mouth, nipping at his lips as he trailed his hands over Charles' torso. Erik trailed kissed to behind his ear, whispering filthy things in both English and German as he pushed his hips up against Charles' ass. Charles increased his pace, fighting hard to keep quiet so Raven and Azazel wouldn’t hear.

Erik nipped his ear softly and took hold of his cock, pumping him. “Charles,” he choked out, breath coming unevenly. “ _Fuck_ , Charles.”

Charles groaned loudly, his body arching into Erik's as his orgasm hit, prick twitching in Erik's had and splattering come over both their torsos. Erik groaned, too, the sound muffled by Charles' skin as he came inside of the young man.

Charles slumped forward, head resting on Erik's shoulder as he laughed breathlessly. “Love you,” he mumbled sleepily.

Erik kissed him again, gently, and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist tightly, “Love you, too, darling.”

\---

“I can't believe you're leaving us.”

“I'm not--”

“Charles, _you're moving to another country_. I don't understand how that isn't counted as leaving us,” Sean said unhappily.

Charles sighed, “I'm sorry, I am, I loved working here, but this is what I've always wanted to do.”

“We understand, bub,” Logan replied, sending pointed looks at Alex and Sean.

“Let us throw you a party,” Alex requested. “A going away one.”

“I don't think I trust you to throw me a party.”

Alex looked affronted, “I'll have you know that my parties are _rad_.”

“I think that's what he's worried about, bub.”

“What if we just throw a small one?” Sean asked. “Just us, we can do it here and it'll be all personal and cute.”

Charles sighed, smiling. “That I can agree with, but my sister is in town and will probably insist on coming.”

“Is this your really attractive sister?” Sean asked, eyes twinkling.

“I only have one sibling, and yes, she's quite attractive. Attractive, and here with her scary boyfriend of over a year.”

Sean pouted, “Do you and your sister have a thing for scary boyfriends?”

“Perhaps, but I'll admit Erik has a much more controversial reputation.”

“What are you and him going to do when you leave?” Logan asked gruffly.

Charles blushed faintly, “At the moment, he's coming with me.”

“What do you mean 'at the moment'?” Alex asked, confused.

“Well, there's still room for him to change his mind. I don't want to pressure him into it.”

“Do you want him to go with you?”

“Yes,” Charles nodded. “It'd make the entire thing so much easier for me, and I'd be a lot happier.”

“I don't think I could just go to a different country without my family coming,” Sean thought aloud. “It'd be so weird.”

Charles shrugged, “Raven's staying because of school, and I don't really have anyone else to come with me. I'd be fine on my own, too, but I am glad Erik's adamant on coming with me.”

“Invite him to the party,” Alex said, surprising Charles.

“Sorry, what?”

“Let him come. Sean and I have to feel comfortable letting the two of you disappear to another country. This is his last chance to prove himself.”

“I thought you were getting along,” Charles stated, trying not to laugh.

It had been common knowledge that he was in a relationship with Erik for around six months, and despite everyone warming up to the other man, they still insisted on playing the role of Charles' over protective friends. Something Charles found equally endearing and annoying.

“He's tolerable,” Logan said. “When he's not being an ass.”

“He's an ass most of the time,” Alex said. “Just turns out he's a funny one.”

“He still scares me,” Sean muttered, making Charles grin.

“He tends to have the effect on people.”

\---

Packing was a debacle.

Charles wanted to bring pretty much everything he owned, and that ranged from clothes to kitchen utensils. And of course, the books.

 _The bloody fucking books_.

Erik honestly wouldn't be surprised if the eighteen year old owned more books than the state library. He could already tell they would have piles upon piles of books that Charles probably didn't need scattered throughout their new apartment.

“Charles, you do _not_ need to bring everything you own. We can buy things ther--”

“They're books, Erik! _Books_! I _need_ my books.”

“ _All_ of them?”

“Yes.”

“Really, Charles?” Erik asked, picking up a random book from one of the boxes Charles was filling. “You _need_ 'What to Expect When Expecting'? Unless there's something you've neglected to tell me, darling, I really doubt that one's a necessity.”

“Okay, that one I don't need. I don't even know how that got in there, I don't even know _why_ we have that, actually,” he said, confusion evident. “But the others, the others I need.”

Erik sighed, “You're carrying the boxes.”

“No, I'm not,” Charles replied, smiling sweetly at him.

Erik left, mumbling under his breath. Of course he would end up carrying the bloody boxes.

\---

“What about this apartment?”

“Charles, you could barely fit your shoes in it.”

“Good point,” he murmured, clicking open the next tab. He searched in silence for a bit more, critically scrolling through the possible apartments for him and Erik.

“Do we have to have a final choice before we get there?”

“Well, no,” Charles said. “But I want to be prepared. Just have a few that we can look at.”

\---

Erik was midway through cooking dinner when he heard Charles call out to him, his excitement evident.

“I've found the perfect one,” he said, walking into the kitchen. “One reasonably sized bathroom, a study, two bedrooms, a master one and a smaller one that can double as a study, so we'll get one each. There are _two_ car spaces, the kitchen looks massive, and the other rooms aren't bad either. Plus, it's a good proximity to Oxford _and_ the city,” he looked from the screen to Erik, “It's perfect, isn't it? Tell me it's perfect because I'm getting it anyway.”

Erik grinned, “It sounds perfect, Charles. How much?”

“Not important,” Charles replied immediately.

“ _Charles_.”

“We can afford it, don't worry. I mean, it's expensive, but we'll be fine. It's worth it,” Charles moved the laptop towards Erik. “ _Look_.”

Erik did, and he had to admit that it was exactly what they needed. The price tag was high, but Charles was right, they could afford it. Just by looking through the pictures, he could definitely see him and Charles living there.

“There's a double shower, Erik,” Charles said with a pointed look. “Imagine what we could do in there.”

“Okay,” Erik laughed. “Okay, it’s marvellous, but please have a backup or two, you might not like it in person.”

“Uh huh,” Charles replied, and Erik knew that they'd end up with the apartment even if someone bought it before they did. It was one of the many powers Charles possessed.

\---

The 'goodbye party' went well, or as well as it could have gone, considering everything. Emma had shut the café early so they could use it as a venue, and Charles thought it was a nice touch.

Erik had been reluctant to go at first, believing that he'd make the entire thing awkward for everyone, but Charles was able to convince him. He was glad he could, too, as it allowed him to hide behind the older man as much as he could when Alex and Sean decided it was time to tell every embarrassing story they had of him.

They started off by telling everyone about the time he accidentally spilt ice cold tea over a girl's shirt while she had, unbeknownst to Charles, being flirting with him. It went on for about an hour, with Raven joining in half way through and telling stories of when he was younger. By the end of the night, Charles was sufficiently embarrassed and the others had a lot of information to blackmail him with.

“One last thing,” Sean called standing up. Alex followed suit, and Charles noticed the gift back he was holding for the first time.

They stood in front of the group, beaming, “We couldn't leave without giving you something.”

“They're not going to stop me at customs because of this 'something', are they?”

“No.”

“Maybe.”

“Wonderful,” Charles drawled.

Sean grinned and cleared his throat, “As we all know, our dear Charlie--”

“Don't call me that--”

“--Is leaving us very soon - too soon, actually - and we're all going to miss the idiot very much.”

“So we decided,” Alex took over, “To give you something so you won't forget about us while you're making super smart friends in England. Charles, stand up.”

Charles stood and walked towards them, “I'm slightly worried.”

“Nonsense,” Sean said. “There's no need for it. Our gift is actually nice.”

“Nice?”

“Yes,” Alex exclaimed, handing him the bag. “Look inside.”

Charles looked a bit hesitant but did as he was told. Inside he could see a thin, square book, that looked like as if the pages inside had been personalised, and a rectangular box wrapped in bright pink paper.

“Open the box,” Sean said, grinning.

“Do you like the wrapping paper? I picked it out.”

“Beautiful, Alex,” Charles said, laughing.

He placed the bag on a nearby table and obediently pulled out the box. He tore the paper carefully, ignoring raven's exclamation of _just tear it, Charles, you're not hurting it_. Under the paper was a white cardboard box that he opened quickly, and in that was a coffee mug, a photo of all the staff members printed onto it. Charles huffed a laugh, “Well thought out,” he said, looking back at Alex and Sean.

“It was my idea,” Alex said. “Sean got it done. We thought it was needed.”

“It will be cherished, I can assure you.”

“That's all we ask, Charles.”

“Now open the book,” Moira called out. “That one was my idea.”

Charles did as he was told and pulled out the book; it had a plain black cover with nothing to indicate what was inside. He turned to the first page and felt himself smiling; the same photo that was on the mug was pasted in the middle of the page, with the words _don't forget about us_ handwritten under it. He flicked through the pages; every second page had an individual photo of him and another staff member, a personal message on the page next to it.

“It's for when you get nostalgic,” Moira said, smiling softly.

Charles hugged the book to his chest, throat tightening. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I love it.”

Sean put an arm around him and pulled him into a hug, grinning. “Well,” he said, “We couldn't stand the thought of you forgetting us.”

\---

Emma had dragged Erik into a small, private room that was usually only used for staff meetings. She sat down on the slightly daggy couch, patting the spot next to her.

Erik sat next to her, body turning so he was facing the woman, “Are you going to interrogate me?”

“Not quite.”

“Oh?”

“Do you really want to do this?”

“Yes,” Erik replied, surprised. “Seriously, Emma, I thought you'd be able to tell.”

“I can tell you're all lovey-dovey with him, and it really is sickening sometimes, but I can't tell if you're doing this because you really want to.”

“I do, Emma, honestly. You sound like Charles. He's been stressing for weeks over the exact same thing, but _I do_. I couldn't imagine letting him go on his own.”

“Well, then, sugar,” Emma said, smiling faintly. “I guess this is a goodbye of sorts.”

Erik smiled back, a bit stunned to see Emma acting tenderly. “You'll still get annoying messages, and emails, and don't forget about Skype.”

Emma leaned into him. “This is like the end of an era,” she said.

Erik chuckled, arm resting against her back, “Don't be so melodramatic, love. You'll lose your reputation of a heartless bitch.”

\---

After some slightly teary goodbyes and promised made to keep in touch, Erik took Charles, Raven, and Azazel back to the mansion.

“They're nice,” Raven said. “I'm glad you found them.”

“So am I,” Charles replied.

“Me, too,” Erik agreed. “Without them, you probably wouldn't have met me.”

“And where would I be without you?”

\---

“This is our last night in America.”

Erik hummed, his fingers running through Charles' hair. They were lying on the floor of Charles' room at the mansion, Erik's apartment being empty. Raven and Azazel were in the room above, staying so they could drive them to the airport and say goodbye just before they got on the first of their flights.

“It's so weird,” Charles continued. “I didn't think I'd actually do it.”

“Excited?”

“Mmhm,” he turned so he was looking at Erik's face. “And nervous, but mostly excited. I'm going to prefer the weather.”

Erik laughed at him, “Burn easily?”

“You have no idea. The amount of precautions I have to take so I don't look like a tomato is astounding.”

“Tomato looking or not, I'd still love you.”

“I love it when you talk dirty to me, darling.”

\---

“Charles, all those things aren't necessary to bring _on_ the flight.”

“Yes, they are.”

“How so?”

“The stuff we had shipped isn't going to be there until at least a week after we're there. I need things.”

“Surely not that many books.”

“You'd be surprised how many books I read when you don't insist on dragging me back to bed.”

“Yes, because it's _me_ who insists--”

“Not the point,” Charles cut him off. “This stuff is coming with us on the flight.”

Erik was quite for a moment, “We're that type of couple, aren't we?”

“What type of couple?”

“The type where one person, in this case it's you, travels with half of their belongings, while the other, in the chase it's me, travels with carry on and not much else.”

Charles smiled over his shoulder at him, “Sounds about right.”         

\---

“I don't actually like flying,” Charles muttered, leg bouncing up and down next to Erik's while Raven drove them to the airport.

Erik kissed the top of his head, “It'll be fine, baby.”

“You'll have his hand to hold the entire time,” Raven called out, mockingly, from the font.

“I'm not going to miss you at all,” Charles muttered.

\---

Charles pulled away from Raven, cheeks glistening from the tears that had escaped. He kissed his sister's cheek, breathing out slowly.

“You'll be fine,” Raven whispered, voice cracking.

Charles nodded, arms still wrapped loosely around Raven's shoulders. “If you say so,” he said.

“You will,” Raven repeated, eyes glancing towards Erik. “You have that big, possessive bastard to take care of you.”

Charles laughed wetly and pulled away, letting out another breath.

“And you,” Raven exclaimed, turning towards Erik. “I am trusting you with my baby brother, if I find out he gets hurt, by anything or anyone, I will find you, and I will kill you. Are we clear?”

Erik grinned, all teeth, “Crystal,” he said.

Raven smiled too, pulling the man into a quick hug. “Take care of him for me,” she whispered.

“I will,” Erik replied. “Nothing's going to hurt him.”

Raven nodded and pulled away, “Take care of yourself, too.”

Erik smirked, “Who would've thought you'd end up caring about my wellbeing?”

“Shut it, Lehnsherr,” she stood back next to Azazel. “You two dummies have fun, okay?”

Charles still looked like he was about to cry, but he nodded, wiping at his face. “I'll talk to you soon,” he said.

Raven couldn't help but reach over and hug him again. “Love you, little brother.”

“ _Big_ brother.”

“ _Charles_.”

Charles chuckled quietly, “Love you, too, Raven.”

\---

“You okay?” Erik asked from the seat next to him, reaching over and taking his hand.

Charles hummed, intertwining their fingers together. “I have the strangest feeling that I'm ruining my life,” he murmured, turning to look up at the older man. “But in the best way possible.”

Erik grinned and placed a soft kiss to the top of Charles' head. “Believe me, liebling. I know the feeling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is! Thank you for being patient – half of this chapter just did not want to get done. 
> 
> I want to thank everyone for all the support and helpful comments while I wrote this, just because a lot of them went unanswered does not mean they went unnoticed. I honestly didn’t think this would get much, if any, attention when I first started writing it, so I’m pretty happy with the feedback. 
> 
> I’ve been playing around with the idea of a sequel, but have decided against it. I might, however, add some standalone works to the series so you guys get an idea of what their life is like in England. I should be posting more fics in the future, although I’m not sure how regular they’ll be considering I’m going to be really busy with school. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who bothered to read all of this, and to everyone who just read the first line and decided it was shit (watching the view count increase has made me happier than it should have). 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


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